The Chaotic Tapestry of a Once Great War
by Thy Darkest Recompense
Summary: Several Years ago a single Magus discovered by pure acident that the world was constantly going through a time loop. In the present day, he has emerged announcing the beginning of a Holy Grail War to the entire world, inviting them to his Islands, to either spectate or participate. This is the story of what occurs on the island.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: I've edited the first chapter, actually putting time breaks in, after they disappeared somehow. Of course, it's been a while since I released this chapter, and I only found out due to a friend that they were missing.

The Chaotic Tapestry of a once great war

Chapter 1 - The insanity of

Prologue

Several years ago: Paris. In the afternoon

The people in the city of Paris enjoyed their daily lives as the sun shined brilliantly in the air. They all enjoyed themselves partying as they normally do believing that they understand the world and the dangers that lie within. That the stories of old about magic and holy weapons, dragons and demonic beasts were just that, stories. That however was something they were led to believe. Dragons had disappeared from plain sight, demonic beasts were slain, holy weapons no longer had individuals who wielded them and as such found their ways into collector's hands who sheltered them from others, rather than at a worthy warriors side.

Magic however, while believed by the general populace to have either faded with history or to never have existed in the first place, was still spread out among the world. It was however, hidden from the view of others. Magic was a convenience, however for those who possessed it and those who didn't their opinions would greatly differ, at times leading to bloodshed. And so, for the good of all, but mainly for himself a magus practised his craft deep within the confines of his basement.

Many of his ilk had manors or even castles but he only had a small house, the result of his non-existent lineage. Lineage, it was everything in the society of those who use magecraft. Those with a long family history of magic had backing, knowledge, and generally a well predisposed placing in society, even if they keep to themselves. But no this man, not Duwain D'Orlean. His name, while sounding important, hadn't stopped him from growing up a common life at early age. As he turned 10 however he had a luck filled encounter, whether of the good or bad kind is left to judgement, where he stumbled onto the secrets of magic. A slight slip-up had left him in possession of a grimoire, a book of magical knowledge.

With the curiosity of one at his age he perused the contents and in time, with much struggle, he started using the magic detailed in the book. This knowledge he kept hidden from others for a while, before he squeezed his way into the hidden world of the magus. As one without lineage however, he was often shunned and he found no allies in the labyrinth like society, full of secrets and needless complications. And so he kept to himself, practising away trying to refine his study in his magic, the flow, control and manipulation of energy in practical and combat environments.

Duwain didn't throw fire balls or shoot lightning from his hands, in fact he found it hard to even heat the room at times but with small specialized rituals of his own design he had properly developed the ability to fight against constructs. More accurately, entities like golems, familiars and homunculus. As a side effect to his study in anti-construct fighting techniques he had to create his own golems and familiars, since he was never granted an opportunity to fight them in any of his short interactions during his time in the world's flip side.

Duwain had learnt over many painstaking years how to create golems and familiars and finally in his 17th year as a magus he had finally gotten to the point where he could attempt to make homunculi. They had emotions like people do so this was a rather morally questionable act that was going on right at this moment. Magi however, choose to ignore morals, as long as they don't reveal their art to the world. In fact, there is even an organization that hunts down people who lets magic be known to outsiders.

What Duwain was doing now not breaking any of the Magic Organizations rules so he went about the creation of his homunculus. However, since they are artificial humans, they generally age like humans as well. And since Duwain wanted a proper combat test he had no choice but to try and speed up the process.

In the centre of the basement was a large glass tank, filled with a green liquid, and in the centre of it way a fetus barely visible through the liquid. All the materials to make a full human body was in the tank, all the molecules that form a human were mixed in with the liquid, but they were only there as a backup. The main form of creating a mature homunculus was something else. A large and complex series of strange symbols had been scrawled along the roof and walls, and there was even a magic circle which was drawn to surround the tank. And beside that tank was a clock. Yes, as stupid and dangerous and impossible that it was, Duwain was going to attempt a magic that manipulated time of his own creation. Even more complex then the circle around the tank was another circle that was being drawn around Duwain himself at this very moment.

This circle was to prevent any possible time manipulations from affecting him, and it was the culmination of much research into this near non-existent field. As he finished up the circle he sat down in the centre and channelled his prana into the complex rituals to start the process. The clock sat there, in the centre of the room expectantly, waiting for the miracle. Magic filled the room and the ritual started, light distorted and the world went white.

When Duwain was finally able to see again he let out a curse, his attempt to control time in a small zone had failed. In fact it seems that time had not changed at all bar its natural passing. Determined still, he went back to his books of knowledge and tried to discover as to where he went wrong with his ritual.

Day turned to night, and then back to day yet still the magus did not sleep. He had learnt how to keep the flow of his energy at a stable amount, allowing him to stay awake for close to five days with little problem. Of course, he didn't push himself too hard and made sure to sleep the next night. He studied and formulated while getting some rest and soon it had been exactly four days since the failed ritual. He was writing down notes in the book he used for when formulating rituals and was enjoying a croissant he had just bought earlier on. Thankful as a magus he could clean any messes he made so he had developed a habit of eating while reading or writing in the books.

He jotted down a few notes and closed the book, and as he went to stand to return the book to its resting place, Duwain was assaulted by a strange feeling. The world around him went white then black and Duwain lost all cognitive function.

As he finally stirred, he quickly checked himself for any adverse side effects, or curses of any kind. Finding none he pushed himself up of the ground and instantly noted an oddity in the room. After his failed ritual he had removed the magic circles from the room. Yet there they were, as they were four days ago. The book Duwain held just before he collapsed was easily spotted on the shelf that serves as its home. He quickly made his way over to the shelf, pulled out the book and flipped through the pages. The last four days of effort were gone. Erased. Never to be seen again.

The panicked Magus checked all over the basement. Everything he had done for the last four days seemed as if they had never happened. The final straw was that even the calendar was as it was four days ago. Each of the torn off pages was back in place, not that such a feat wasn't hard for a magus. Incredibly suspicious, Duwain checked his workshops defences. All were in place, none had been triggered. Yet still, something was obviously wrong.

Duwain, worried to no end about the safety of his own home, hurriedly made his way outside. He was not instantly attacked by anyone, so that was a good sign. And there were crowds of people making their way through the city, so no magus was likely to pull anything either. Unless they were exceptionally gifted in memory erasing but even that has limits. Duwain quickly moved down the streets until he made his way to his destination. What he sought was a newspaper, and upon finding one, a fear of his became solidly founded. The date was four days prior.

The magus came upon two possibilities as to what has happened. There is no reason for a magus to change everything in his house back to its state four days ago, and change all of the dates on the newspapers, even if such a thing is possible without detection. And that means that either the last four days were an instant dream like phenomena brought about as a side effect of the ritual or he just did something clearly impossible; travelling backwards through time. In the world of magecraft there are 5 magic's, while all other spells are known as sorcery, thaumatology or simply magecraft. The 5 magic's are things that are effectively miracles, spells beyond spells, doing things that go beyond what was thought possible. Travelling backward through time would be able to stand among them.

But there was no reason for him to suddenly travel back in time so it seemed to him that is was just the first option, the dream. And so he went back to study, calmed from his panic, and returned home, to go back to his books and discover the reason for the strange dream.

And four days later he once again fell unconscious and woke up at that same time. A dream within a dream was becoming a ridiculous notion. The time travel seemed viable. And so, Duwain studied into any pieces of magecraft he could find that involved time in any state. And time turned back again. And again. And again. And finally, he realised something important. He was not the source. Far from it. In fact, his ritual had saved him from endlessly repeating the same four days on end. Somewhere else, 'something' caused an endless repetition of days and Duwain had been lucky enough to find himself able to remember it. Even if he always returned to that same spot. But even that could be fixed. More importantly though, the entire planet was in a constant state of repetition, and whatever was causing it was finally located.

Duwain pushed himself up off the floor of his basement and spoke his intentions out loud. "It looks like I'm heading to Japan."

Back to present time

Does everyone understand that annoying feeling of having their peaceful sleep shattered by an alarm? That's my standard wake up ritual. Of course this little habit of mine has developed where I set my alarm again for another 5 minutes rest after I quickly stop its loud shrill.

After hear the alarm go off again I reach over and turn it off and stretch in my bed. I force myself out of my personal haven and start getting ready for yet another day of school. Not that I don't mind it though, in fact I'm a rather fun loving individual so I make do. I step into my pants and button up my shirt.

I step out of my room to greet my dad, the main reason I'm currently living where I am... in the middle of nowhere. He used to be a stage magician, or at least tried to be. A little before getting a début on a full blown stage he got into an accident and injured his arms badly. He can still move them but every morning I help him get ready when Mom isn't home. She was his stage assistant and well, they hit it off I guess, even if she only worked part time with dad. She was in university and dad just so happened to be interesting enough or so the stories go.

Anyway, these days my Dad has a hard time do card tricks, or much physical labour, and so he decided to become an author... a god damn writer. At least he can still drive a car. And so the whole family moved down to Australia, into the centre of what the locals call the 'country'. It's so dad has a peaceful environment to write in, but quite frankly, there isn't really that much to do out here. I'd much rather be back in a city or something. Well, since dad has been teaching me tricks of the trade since I was small I can make my own fun. I often practice card tricks and optical illusions in my spare time and show them off to my classmates at the school I go to.

"Damn, speaking of school, I should start eating breakfast or I'm going hungry." I quickly put some cereal in the bowl I pull out of the cupboard and pour some milk in after it. I munch away, watching as my sister and Mum talk about something down the hallway, I can't hear them but it looks serious enough. The conversation branches off and my mum walks by and giving me a smile and my dad a kiss on the cheek she walks outside the house. I hear the sound of one of our two cars driving off and go back to eating my breakfast.

My sister, two years younger, Ashley, quickly cooks some toast for herself to eat as I polish of my cereal. When she sits down I decide to ask her as to what she and mum were talking about. "So, what were you and mum talking about so importantly over there?"

Ashley munches on her toast and gives me a food filled answer. "Che seid dat che vaz..." She then decided to swallow before continuing on, "She said that she was going on a trip with an old colleague of hers. Something about heading somewhere cold..."

"And I was meant to be informed about this when? Dad! Did you know about mum's trip?" I call over to dad who is watching the morning's news and gives a curt nod, revealing to me that I'm the only one left out of the loop. "So, basically I'm the one left uninformed yet again. That's just great. And I'm assuming that means that I'm in charge of meals again?" Since dad can longer handle sharp movements, and my sister is awkward around knives I'm the one in charge of cooking in cases like this.

Mum has plenty of colleagues from her university days. Some even travel all the way to Australia to talk to her at times and they are an interesting variance of individuals from all branches of life. There was even one individual who seemed to believe he was some sort of royalty, or at least the closest equivalent. Well, their visits keep things around here interesting, but occasionally mum goes to visit them and I'm left to look after the families for some days on end. I get left with cleaning and cooking, though my dad helps out with what he is capable of. Ashley... well she's a studyholic, so it's rare to see her outside her room except at meal time.

Wow, enough musing, I have to get to school. Every morning, both me and Ashley have to get on a bus that drives towards the town that serves as the hub for everything in this area. There are several small towns littering the countryside, each with their own school for the early grades, but for high school the only place had was at this central town. And since we lived far away, every morning and afternoon both me and my sister would ride the bus to school and back.

I return to my room and pack the items that I require for today at school. That plus several packs of cards. Some unopened, and some... well let's just say that I've already got to them. I sling my bag over my shoulder, walk to the door and as I go to put my shoes on my dad calls out to me. "Since you hate to be out of the family circuit I'll tell you now. While your mother is out on her trip we're going on one too. I plan to travel out west with you and Ashley. Think of it as a camping trip. Your mother is going to be gone for a fortnight so we have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. We'll spend a week out in the harsh outback. Yeah, that should give me some inspiration."

"Does mom and Ashley know about this?" I ask this question in case this is just a sudden proposal.

"Oh don't worry about that, they both know already. Hell, Ashley has been preparing for the last two days in anticipation." Whoa, whoa, whoa. The last two days? Just how long were you planning to wait before informing me?

"What about school though? Sure both me and Ashley get good grades but skipping for an entire week isn't exactly what I'd call an option." I'm quite happy in my school attendance levels. Well, performing magic tricks at school is virtually my sanity preserver in this place. Dad is always at his laptop when he's not teaching me stuff and Ashley always studies. And mum, well she goes on trips a lot or works late shifts when necessary. I'm just glad that she found a job where she can take frequent holidays and not get fired.

My dad looks over to me and changed his voice into the deeper tone that he uses whenever he teaches me magic tricks. "Listen, Leigh, an entertainer must always keep himself in a versatile manner. And at times they must stray from common sense if they wish to enrich themselves. What I'm saying is, if you want to truly grow as a person you should break or more accurately bend a few rules. Someone who lives by the rules foregoes all colour in their ordinary life. And a holiday is always nice, regardless of what time it is taken." His voice returned to normal as he finished his little life lesson.

I give a small nod and step outside, walking down the road slowly so as to give my sister a chance to catch up.

The classes dragged on for the start of the day and when lunch finally came along I was raring for some stress release, which for me is some sleight of hand and magic tricks.

I walked out of class and quickly ate the food in my lunch box before carrying my bag to the drama room. I took drama class and always scored top marks, and even got along well with the teach. Hence, I have access to the room to put on magic shows. Whenever I feel like doing something really fancy I put on a top hat conveniently stored in the room, but today I was just doing some minor tricks. I set up a table and my props and waited for a small, expectant crowd to walk in.

Once a small number of people made their way in and sat on the floor I started my small show. "Okay folks, I'm going to start with a very simple display. Very easy to pull off for one with access to mystical arts, and strange powers. The simplicity of it however, is where the real magic shows. For this display I will use a simple round object, say this pencil. I assure you it is a normal pencil, though how you could alter one of these is beyond me. I'll pass it around regardless."

I hand the pencil to the nearest member of the audience who quickly looks at it before passing it around. What else I need are two pieces of wool. One is coloured red and the other blue, good strong colours that don't necessarily get along unless you're fond of purple." The colours don't really matter in this trick. I just need two different colours. "Once I get the pencil back I'll begin."

I tie both pieces of wool so that I ended up with two separate circles as I then showed the audience. Upon receiving the pencil back I started the trick. "Now these two colours really don't get along at all. So much it seems that they will actually fight under certain circumstances." I pass one of the loops halfway through the other and use the hang the two half circles from the pencil. The end result, the red wool was propped on the pencil in two places and the blue wool hung from the centre of the red, not touching the pencil at all.

"Now see this situation here. Red has a firm hold on the pencil, but blue, well it seems that he's hanging on for dear life. If I tug on red it stays their firmly." I visibly pull on the red string and as I said the pieces of wool stayed as they were. "Well it just so happens that the colour blue tends to fight back from this situation." I move my hand in front of the pencil and swish it to the side. "And as you see, in an instant their situations are reversed. A perfect case of red and blue fighting with each other. And it happened in an instant too. Of course you aren't here today for such... simple tricks. So I'll give you something better, 'Divination'". I pull apart my first trick and ready a deck of cards.

I shuffle it a few times visibly in front of the audience and deal the cards into four piles. "Four piles, four correct divinations. So, who would like a try?" I smile as I enjoy my show.

It's seems that recently, people have been making small donations after my show. Just a few coins here and there, and it's not like I started doing this because I wanted to make money. Hence I donate half of what I get to whatever charity I can find being supported by the school at the time. The other half finds its way into my pocket for safe keeping.

Today, I count the money donated after I finish the show. I've packed up and everyone but one has left. Everyone, bar a friend of mine. "Are you waiting around for a particular reason Jarrod?"

"Nah, just watching you pack up. Though I must say that you mention all that mystical forces and stuff all that time. You wouldn't happen to be..."

I give a slight smile and a sarcastic answer. "A terrifying Wizard?"

"A nutcase. Everyone knows that stuff like real magic doesn't exist. That's why we have science. Because there isn't an easy do-it-all. But well, when you speak about all that mumbo jumbo it sounds sort of real in a way. By the way how did you make that apple disappear earlier?" Upon his mention of that, I start biting into the aforementioned apple that I made disappear in front of everyone earlier.

I swallow the contents of my mouth and give the same answer that I always give. "Someone who wants to be a proper magician never reveals the tricks of the trade. The only exception is when passing it on to the next generation." I answer that way regardless of who asks me, even if it's my sister. And she has tried many a time. "Well you are always free to work it out the hard way."

"With all your flourishes and damn distractions it is so hard to even note when you are doing something that I should look out for. I've given up long ago." He then fishes around in his pockets and pull out a deck of cards. However this deck was different from the type that I use. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about tarot cards would you?"

"Bits and pieces. Some vague understandings in some areas, and some slightly less vague in others." I'd seen a couple of packs around where I used to live, but none recently. "Why do you have these?"

"An old lady near my house let me have them. She was moving away and decided to get rid of them. I was nearby at the time and there you go, a free pack of tarot cards. So anyway, how do these things work?"

"Do you know if there is just the major arcana in there or are both arcana in that pack?" Of course, I get a blank stare for my question. "Just describe the cards."

My friend pulls the cards out and shows me the lot. The cards came out of the pack with a small paper manual. He looks at me and starts to speak, "This manual is meant to explain stuff, but look at how complicated and small that text it. I'm normally busy with student council work and my studies. I don't like the idea of reading through this thing about something I'm only vaguely interested in."

"The least I can tell you is that you've only got the major arcana in here. They are pretty much a set of cards starting at 'the fool' and ending with 'the world'. Each of the cards normally symbolize a part of life and people use that to interpret things according to what card or combination of cards you draw."

My friend takes the cards back and shuffles them, badly at that. He then offers out the cards. "So how many do you draw and what do we want to know?"

"The standard would be one card and just have it describe a person. In my case, if tarot has any shred of sense I would now pull out..." I reach out and pick out a card and reveal it, "The fool. Damn it does work. Or maybe I'm just lucky?"

"You want to be an idiot?"

"The fool actually refers to something closer to a fun loving individual and can often be likened to the protagonist at the start of a story."

"So a hero?"

"Just the main character... The one every pays attention to... But still... A trickster fits me nice" I reach over to my half eaten apple and resume eating it as the bell rings, sounding the return to class.

After a tiring day at school there is no better relaxation for myself then learning new tricks so I asked my dad to teach me something new. I'm more likely to learn what dad teaches me than what I learn at school these days after all, even if I am in my last year.

Today however, I was surprised, because rather than doing something more in my field of expertise, I was about to attempt something completely new for me. Rather than practice in my room or in the lounge room, we were in the shed where we set up all of our equipment involving complex magic tricks.

My dad looked at me as I held the knife and gave a nod. I held a special knife by its blade and was getting ready to throw it at a target. "What's the point of this, if I can ask?" I've dealt with optical illusions and card tricks, but knife wielding felt more like a circus act.

My dad had his teaching voice at the ready as he gave my lesson. "The point is that any good stage magician must never perform the same trick over and over again. The crowds may find out how it works. On the other side, that means always having new and interesting tricks. I once had a trick with you mother where I would throw a knife and she would catch it. As it almost hit her between the eyes. And then she would throw it back and I would catch the blade with my teeth."

Understanding how our occupation works I knew that there were tricks in place so that accidents wouldn't happen, and maybe even the blade throwing was fake as well. "Does that require actual knife throwing?"

"Well, mine didn't really, however that is no reason why some of the acts that you do in the future won't be able to apply what you're learning now." A valid argument, as ever. The more I know and understand as a magician, the more I can apply it to my performances. And knife throwing certainly looks impressive. "Leigh, hold the blade like I showed you and throw it at the target. And while you practice I'm going to turn on the news. I'll be using the TV here in the shed, so I'll be able to keep an eye on you, while listening in for anything interesting."

I grip the blade and move my wrist as instructed and the knife sailed over to the target... where it bounced away ineffectually. We had built a sort of protective wall beforehand so we didn't have to worry too much about dangerous ricochets. I had four knives left and so I slowly aimed and threw the blade trying to at least get the blades to stick into the wooden target let alone hit it. "This is so much harder than it looks. Why does this quickly made bull's-eye have to be so small? It's only 15 centimetres across, isn't that a bit too small for beginning practice?"

My dad, walking back after turning on the TV we keep in the shed. He chuckled at my frustration. "Listen, the best attribute a magician can have is not ingenious imagination skills, but rather dexterous hands. Because no matter how creative you are, if you can't pull off the trick..." What he was saying was ringing home to himself. Due to the injuries to his arms he could no longer move his arms rapidly. He could still write and type no problem but when it came to great movements and vast flourishes, particular to his style of magic, he was brought great pain by the very act.

In a way, I knew that he taught me magic because he was no longer able to do anything but the smaller tricks himself. I was thankful for the fact. I have no idea as to what I would be doing at the moment if I wasn't practising magic like I have been since I was still in kindergarten. I might have ended up a studyholic like my sister. Regardless of what paths I might have taken, I was here now and that was what mattered. "I get the point dad. Just hit the tiny target. Improve my skill a bit and then I've got myself a valuable asset."

I toss my last knife at the small makeshift bull's-eye, and start to smile as the knife heads straight for it, then watch as the blade dips down making the knife clatter harmlessly against it. "Dammit. That was close. Just you wait, I'll get my accuracy up to the point that I can hit that thing while throwing sideways."

I walk over and start picking up the knives. Their old but well polished. They must be ones that dad used to use a long time ago. The care he puts into this stuff just goes to show how dedicated to magic he is. As I pick up the last blade I start to hear something interesting coming from the TV. It seems to have caught dad's attention as well as he is staring intently at the screen.

"-that satellite images have indeed shown the appearance of thirteen previously unknown islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As stated before these islands were discovered three days ago and these images was just revealed to us. All of these islands seem to have man-made structures built upon them as shown. Are these islands-"

As the news reporter commented on the appearance of the strange islands the image on the TV distorted and changed until it showed a completely different image, that of a middle-aged man wearing a suit and standing in the middle of a stage. And then he look at the screen as if looking through the screen at me and spoke. "Greetings people of Australia... this is Australia isn't it? Anyway, greetings, I am Duwain D'Orlean, and I offer everyone in the world an opportunity, beyond that ever offered to the masses. I offer entertainment, things never before seen to those alive today, and something even greater."

The man spoke widely and moved his hands about as spoke. "Let me start with this. Magic is real. Oh, how people are going to hate me for saying that. If you need proof, you should have found out about the islands appearing in the Pacific Ocean by now. You can't hid something this big from people after all. Is it possible that this place is made by the technology everyone is so fond of? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it. 13 islands complete with foliage and wildlife don't just come into existence overnight. Not normally at least."

I look over at my dad wondering as to what he is thinking, looking upon the current situation, but his expression is one of intense interest rather than confusion.

"I offer access to these island to everyone in the world. Magus, follow of the church, secretary in an office, I don't mind, all may come for the festivities. As this message passes it's ways through the countries of the world, at appropriates times of course, planes will become available at every airport to fly you to my haven. Access to my domain is free, though ticket prices for the air planes are still an issue. But hey, there's a price for everything isn't there. There is enough space and lodgings for 10 million individuals in my Eden. This place could be its own country if I wanted but to more important..."

The man stops for a moment and speaks to someone outside of my screen. "Ven, can you deal with the intruders. They're interrupting me, so be creative."

I let slip some words finally, "What the hell is this" I didn't receive back an answer however as the man started his speech again.

"Sorry about that. Some fellows decided to take me off air. Didn't work, and now they find themselves in an "awkward" situation. Back to what I was saying. The space for the 10 million people. They or more accurately you, will be privileged to watch an event sheltered from the eyes of many. I'm sure the term 'Holy Grail' means something to you all." The man breathes in and gives a sigh. "Someone, somewhere, probably in a place really cold, just had a seizure. Because I have the keys to it. Stole everything I needed to and have access to something beyond the wishes of everyone. An item that well... grants wishes. Alas, I have a key, but I need a lock for the key as well. And so I announce TO EVERYONE IN THE WORLD! I announce a battle, no a war, aiming to become the owner of this wondrous item. This very battle shall give access to the grail to he... or she... that is worthy to grasp it in their hands, whether myself or someone else. This battlefield shall be the true entertainment that I offer for my Eden, as I shatter the rules that bound this world."

The man gesturing boldly as he spoke finally reached off screen to grab a book which he promptly opened. "As I said before, magic is real, and a whole society of magi exists. But well, frankly they ANNOY me to no end so let's screw with them a bit. Normally for something of this nature only one with magical talent would participate. And unseen from the eyes of everyone I might add. But 'Nay!', I say, let everyone have an opportunity. And in broad viewing range nonetheless. Anyone can 'audition' for the rights to participate. You just need a team of two. A 'Master' and a 'Servant'. _If that name rings a bell for you it means you probably hate me at this moment. _The Master is important, and human, but the Servant, well the rules are rather broad in this case. A servant is normally a Legendary Spirit fit into a class, but for one time only, anyone or anything can be a servant, as long as it is sentient and meets the rugged criteria during the audition phase. Both Magi and soldiers are offered places, weapons are allowed. I'll allow them. Just remember if the Master is defeated... well he loses. Any non-legendary spirit that succeeds in the audition will also get a class, so don't worry a thing about things getting out of hand."

Magi, Servants, Legendary Spirits. This man was incredulous before, but now... He spat out words that either meant little or nothing to me as if those words meant everything to him. His speech was also getting disjointed as if he was getting so exited he couldn't think straight any more.

"Oh and If you think that there are only 7 spots... well you'll be wrong. Due to some... non-technical errors, I've ended up with 12 positions, though I plan to take one for myself. How cruel, how scandalous. The host is participating as well? Well don't worry. I won't cheat. I'm not like the scoundrels that little London and Italy. I'll play fair. Just don't think that fair means easy. I look forward to the audience, and the looks on peoples face as the flip side of the world is opened for all to see... As a final note. I regret to inform of the short period of time in which I can offer to prepare. One week from now I shall start this greatest entertainment this world has seen. This is Australia right?"

And with that last question of that insane scene fades away to reveal the standard news presenter looking stunned at the screen. She blinks a couple of times before realising that she on air. "We're back? I'm sorry, both the staff and myself have no idea as to what just happened. However if we can take anything from that positively crazy scene just now, it seems that this man Duwain D'... D'... D'Orlean, Thank you for that. That this man Duwain D'Orlean is responsible for the appearance of the Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We will investigate further and attempt to bring-"

I zone out the newscaster as I breathe in heavily and I sigh to myself. What just happened makes little sense to me. Did that man hijack just that TV channel or were all of them the same. I was so stunned by what I was watching I didn't even think to change the channel.

"It's here!"

I perk up and look over at dad who just murmured something. "What?"

"My source of inspiration. It's here. It smacked me right in the face. Plans changed. We head to those Islands."

Once again but louder this time. "WHAT!?"

My dad starts chuckling away. "If what that guy was saying is even sort of correct, there should be planes flying out over to those island that we can board. This could be the turning point of the century and I sure don't want to miss it. Real magic huh? Sounds like just what I need."

"Dad, no offence but that man on the TV sounded crazy, absolutely insane. There is no way that those planes..." Dad was already dialling a number into his mobile phone.

"I'd like to book a trip to those Islands on the news right now..." Dad, seriously? "One trip for three to the Eden Isles then, return of course. And that is how much..." What they actually have planes to go there? Are you being scammed? "I'll take it. No haggling for me today. The price is reasonable after all." My dad never ceases to amaze me. He was considering haggling with... Wait which company is he calling anyway? "On Monday then. I look forward to it."

And with that dad hung up his mobile. "Dad. Are you sure you should be going there. It screams suspicious."

"A true stage magician should always seek adventure, and well it seems like we might just get the change to meet true practitioners. Also by me, that includes you and Ashley."

"And not mum?"

"I'll send her a text, and it isn't like she could come with us anyway. She's already out on a trip after all. Though, she might even meet us there if we're lucky. Gyahaha!" Looks like that man, Duwain, isn't the only one who is excited about this. I would be too if there wasn't that slight interruption in the middle of that spectacle, added to the sudden nature of it all. Something about the whole situation just sends shivers up my spine.

"And so, what did Ashley say?"

I'm speaking with Jarrod at lunch. I'm not performing a show today, so I sit peacefully and enjoy my meal. "As soon as Dad started to try to negotiate she slammed the door in Dad's face. Knowing Dad though, he's probably going to try something. He gets stubborn about random things at times. He is so much easier to get on with up on stage."

"About that, it seems to me that your entire personality changes when you start your performances as well. Do you and your dad have some sort of dual personality?" Well sure, we act really different when we get up on stage, but I wouldn't call it a split personality or anything.

"My Grandfather was an actor, and my dad was a stage magician. What about these two occupations are so similar?" I pose a question to my friend who is surprisingly not busy at all.

Though, everyone has mostly ignored things like classes and homework today. It seems that all everyone can speak about was that crazy man on TV yesterday. Those who saw it spoke profusely about it, and those who didn't listened intently. It was at such a bad level that people had just completely forgot about their duties and studies. Well, I wasn't complaining though. As much as the situation feels suspicious to me, it doesn't mean that I don't feel an interest in the situation at all. Hearing people's opinions just seemed to hype up everything for me. If I wasn't so worried about what was going on, I might have been right alongside dad in petitioning to head off to those Islands straight away.

After thinking for a bit, my friend offers the answer that I was looking for. "They are entertainers. So what you're getting at here is that rather than being crazy, it is something you picked up from your family?" Good deduction.

"Yeah, since real personalities almost never seem to fit the role perfectly, we temporarily make another that we slip into when we perform. I use it in drama class as well, that's how I get such good marks. I don't act, I become. We get rid of our usual personality entirely and craft the new one as to how we want. It takes a little why to get ready, but hey, it's what I was taught to do as a kid. Hence, I might seem a bit different when I perform. Though, when I say entirely, I don't mean permanently either, just so it doesn't serve as a factor. I prefer my normal self the best after all."

"So you here now, with you slightly childish and complaining self, and the 'silver magician' are actually two different things entirely. Makes sense really. I've never seen you acting like that outside of your performances."

"Silver magician? What the hell? Since when have you been giving me nicknames?"

"Well, everyone donates their silver coins to you. When was the last time you actually got a gold coin? Hence silver magician."

"The names horrible. I'm never using it. Besides, I'm a bigger fan of purple myself... Though the purple magician doesn't sound so flashy either. Damn, dad got a nickname like the demon's disciple, so why do I get something like this?"

"Demon's disciple? Sure I'll give it to you, that does sound very impressive, if not slightly worrying."

Before his accident, while he was still an magician, dad used to perform marvellous tricks, like throwing balls of fire, or catching an entire deck of thrown cards. Both the speed of his movements and the nature of his tricks gave birth to a strange rumour. That he had been trained by someone who was not human, a Demon, or something else, dark and mysterious. Of course, this was always told in a joking manner, and soon dad picked up the title the 'demon's disciple'. My aim is to get a stage name like that or maybe even inherit the 'demon's disciple' title from dad when I'm ready.

"So, no calling me the silver magician from now on okay? I'd hate for that to spread before I get an amazing title for myself."

My friend gives a sigh. "Fine, I won't spread the name I so painstakingly created. However won't making a name for yourself be harder if real magicians actually exist like that guy on the TV said?"

Stage magicians come into existence to entertain to masses using the mysteries of magic. Even if we can't actually use real magic, that does make our magic any less real. "We are entertainers, we use our skills for others and we fulfil our role quite well. You would have to be rather amazing to bypass what we can do with some good planning. They are more of rivals than a threat. Of course all of this is only IF such individuals actually exist. We can teleport ourselves and others, separate parts of our body, and survive being speared to death, let's just see if they can keep up first."

I'm fairly sure the real reason for my dad wanting to go to those Islands, is not to see real magic but rather to challenge it if it really exists. He still has his pride, and I've even seen him practising several easier tricks when he isn't writing. I'm fairly sure he does it as a method of clearing his mind. Yet another reason as to why I'm against going. I don't exactly want to go to somewhere for the sole reason of picking fights with people.

My friend gives a chuckle, "true, if they can keep up with stuff like that then they do deserve the title of magician, or magus or whatever they call themselves. It's nice to see that you aren't going through some sort of early-life crisis, because your way of life was lessened. Though the image of you and your dad battling wizards using your cards sounds pretty amazing."

"Why am I included in that? I'm not exactly impulsive enough to do something like that"

"But the silver magician is completely different from you isn't he? And well, with the right outfit you'd be charging right in. I've watched you long enough to see how you react when someone challenges you while you're up on stage." My friend finishes heal lunch off and stands up. "Since someone should actually do something today I'm off to do some student council stuff. See you later" And with those words he walks off towards the classrooms.

As I see him disappear around the corner I murmur to myself, "I thought I said that I don't like that name."

"No." The exact same response came out of Ashley's mouth as it did the day before. Soon after we returned from high school dad was trying to negotiate with us yet again. At least I wasn't as blunt as Ashley was about it. She walked straight by dad and went straight into her room and closed her door.

"Well that could have gone so much better. Where is your Everett sense of adventure! Leigh, you have that sense of adventure don't you?" The Everett sense of adventure? I wouldn't exactly call it that, but sure I'm intrigued by the whole situation; however my suspicion is just a little higher than my interest.

"Sure I'm interested, however, there are too many things that worry me about that place. If I don't know more about that place first, my vote is tied down at a 'No'" And at that I put my bag away and travel to the shed. I do notice however, that dad is deep in thought as I make my way.

Out of habit I turn on the TV in the shed. A program for kids is currently on, but I completely ignore it. I'll just practise until the news comes on. Maybe then I'll start getting answers to all to all the answers that have plagued me since yesterday.

I pick up the throwing knives from yesterday and start pelting them at the slightly dented bull's-eye. After much effort I start to develop the proper movements and start to actually hit the board with the blade of the knife, getting some proper hits on the bull's-eye, even if it is only at the edge.

After a while of practice I stop and pull out some cards to practice shuffling with. Shuffling is a very important technique to have. It allows me to rearrange the cards in whatever order I want. Well, almost. I'm still not perfect at all the shuffling styles, but I'm fairly accurate now, and occasionally use this skill in my performances. The shuffle is the best way to do card tricks, as it is virtually undetectable as tampering, however it requires a good mind to keep track of card locations. Some of the other card tricks require things like splitting the suits up, or putting the kings and queens at opposite ends. With good shuffling skills however, this preparation will be unneeded. I will be able to rearrange the cards at will, and as such I will be able to detect inconsistencies.

It is a shame though. I've practised for so long and yet, I've still got a long time to go before I can shuffle at the level that dad could. I've heard the stories, he was praised for his skills, and yet, even after dedicating my life to learning his skills I'm still stuck to low end tricks. "Hah... I can move my hands decently, but still, I can't seem to get this stupid shuffle to work." It's best not to get frustrated though. If I get frustrated then any hope of success would go out the window.

At times like this I find it best to try something else for a while. The real question is what to practice. There is an amazing amount of props stored in the shed, so it shouldn't be too hard to find something to do instead. I don't feel like going back to knife tossing at the moment, even if I'm getting the knack of it. "And that would do just perfect." I see a particular prop that I've been really itching to try out for a while now. And this would be a good time to practice with it.

One of the most famous tricks that a magician can perform are the famous escape arts. Whether bound by chains, or locked in a small box, this tricks varies from stage to stage. Almost all of the actual tricks have self-imposed time limits, but I'm not game to try that without proper supervision. In fact, you shouldn't do that stuff without someone nearby at all times. But well, I'm only going to practice removing locks by myself, so there isn't much danger.

I go and pick up the object of my interest. A pair of heavily modified handcuffs. I quickly locate the key and check its validity before putting the modified cuffs on. The reason I keep mentioning that their modified? Simple. The cuffs have large, hollow metal spheres to put your hands into attached to the cuff loops. The end result. Both arms and the hands are restrained.

I boil some water in a pot in the kitchen back inside the house and carefully drop the key in the water once it starts to bubble. I proceed to sterilize it. I don't exactly know what the key has been through, or how much filth it has attracted since its last use as a prop. After a thorough wash I carefully remove the key by slowly pouring out the water.

Dad walks out from his study, taking a stretch from his constant writing and re-writing. In that same vicious cycle. I've had the privilege, if it could be called that, to read the latest chapter of dads work at least 10 times in the past month, each time being set out completely different. It's a fantasy novel filled with magic everywhere. Everyone uses it, from the mundane cleaning of clothes, to battles deciding the fate of countries. Everyone except the main character. He is supposedly unable to use magic at all, and as such he must deal with his action packed life using his cunning rather than magical prowess. The setting sounds nice but... something about it feels like the tears of a man to me.

There have been times that I've seen what might have been tears in dad's eyes after his writing sessions, but today, the smile on his face was plainly obvious. He looked over to me and saw me clasping the still warm key in my hands. "Oh, practising something new I see. Practising the escape arts are most certainly fun. Listen, I'm on a roll at the moment with my writing, but after I'm done I'll head over and give you some good tips. Ah, today I feel so refreshed. Oh, and I'll need you and Ashley to review my work again soon. I'm about done. I only need another 30 minutes or so." Dad looks at the clock. "Still before 6 huh? I'm making great time. I might watch the news with you in the shed if I hurry."

And with that he almost waltzed back into the study. Well, if dad is like this after yesterday's event, then maybe, just maybe, today will end as a great day after all.

Boy, was I wrong. As I desperately tried to open the locks using my teeth the key slips out of my teeth and falls on the ground. "...oh that's just great." After returning to the shed, I've been trying to open this lock just using my teeth. And to ensure that I didn't give up half way I put the modified cuffs on myself. It wasn't exactly easy, but I persevered.

And now, my problem. The key is on the ground. My hands are trapped in metal balls. I'm wearing tightly laced shoes, ones that don't just slip off. Oh, and there is no one in the room with me. The only voices in the room are my own, cursing, and the sound of the newscaster. She looks calm and composed today, compared to her slightly panicked look after the interruption yesterday. I've got no time to worry about that though. I need that key, and I don't want to bug dad or Ashley to get it. I got myself in this stupid situation, and I'm getting myself out. I can't reach my dad if I constantly hang off him. I've got to struggle my way up. I've got to pick that key up... using my teeth...

This is incredibly unpleasant for me as I lie down on the floor and move to scoop the key up with my teeth. Closer... closer... got it. Small amounts of applause go off in my head as I successful manage to key the key back into my teeth. This isn't the most sanitary thing I've ever done, but quite frankly I want these cuffs off. Okay time to move the cuffs into position...

"And I'm back once again!" The keys fall from between my teeth once again. This voice... I quickly turn towards the TV, which involves rolling since I'm still on the ground. And once again, that man was taking over the TV to do another of his surprise announcements. "Hahaha... well after I last spoke to you, the people of Australia, I got scolded. I uh, didn't really clarify things too well for you guys. AND SO, I shall now give you vital information that you should take to heart! I mentioned magi and a wish granting object yesterday. Well, if you want to, you can ignore that. Many of you probably don't believe that anyway. _A WISH GRANTING OBJECT, YEAH RIGHT!_ Well then, think of it this way. I had the ability to make these islands and set up everything for this event, right?" He gives a little bobbing like nod. "Sooooo... I have lots of money... lots of it, all up for grabs for the winner. Or all that money could be used to grant you whatever you desire. Think of it that way... So you want in now don't you? Well I'm not gonna..."

The man stopped instantly and seemed to look just past the screen. Is there someone else there with him? "Ah, I'll just be a sec." Duwain, the insane seeming announcer walked off-screen and then the sounds of violence could be heard.

Someone returned to the centre of the TV screen, but it wasn't the man who had left. It was a woman, appearing to be about 20 years old, who was wearing a suit. Her hair was as dark as night, yet at a closer look it seems like her pupils are red, though it is hard to see from here down on the floor.

The new woman spoke. "Sorry about that. At the rate he was going, we might not have been able to tell you what we wanted to. But first, allow me to introduce myself. I am Aventis, and I will be the main announcer for the events that will transpire in just less of a week from now. I will take over the role of explaining for Master Duwain."

Master Duwain... That man truly is something different from the ordinary man. Everything about him seems slightly off tilt. And even this woman, Aventis, I think her name was? Even she feels slightly off putting. Though I can't seem to put my finger on why.

"Well then allow me to explain the main event, the Holy Grail War. In essence, it is a battle between teams, in this case 12 teams. Each team is made up of a master, and a servant. A master is normally the leader of the two who supports the servant, who is the fire-power for the team. Each of the 12 teams will battle it out in a large battle royale style elimination tournament to see who is the victor. This is normally done through straight combat but depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the teams their approach will change. The survivors of the battle will get the prize. A single desire granted for both members of the team." As she speaks a small cartoon is shown on screen, showing a rather child-like drawing of people fighting with sword and spear.

"Each of the twelve teams will have an Island to call their home. They will have facilities provided for them to stay at for the duration of the tournament. They will use this Island as a base from which to plan their actions in the battlefield. We will not however, make them fight at pre-planned times. They may take their actions at their own discretion. This means that we will not be able to make provide a schedule for you unfortunately. I apologize for this. However, this allows for the contestants to go about the contest as they should so choose."

The cartoon fades away and reveals the woman once again. She is staring directly at the screen, not moving at all except for her lips... That's what seems so unnatural about her. She doesn't fidget or have any-from of non-verbal communication at all. Her voice is nice to listen to, but that is it. Her tone doesn't change and she doesn't move while speaking at all. It's like she's a robot or something.

"Finally, I shall describe the 12 teams and how one of you might be eligible for a role as a servant. Before the real contest begins there will be a preliminary round, to select the most suitable participants. If you wish to participate, please follow the guidelines for the servant classes when choosing what preliminary round to participate in. The one who succeeds in the preliminary shall then be known by the class title during the battle."

"The first class is 'Saber'. Swordsmen, or women are the call here. Only the best will become 'Saber'. Whether you are skilled with the katana, or have skills in Florentine**, **I urge you to try your hand."

"Next, is the servant 'Lancer'. 'Lancer' specializes in the use of spears and pole-arms. They are great at survival and should not be ignored in terms of speed. Martial artists are highly welcomed for this class."

"Thirdly, there is the servant 'Archer'. An 'Archer' is just that an archer, but, in this day and age it would be more appropriate to say that anyone wanting to fill this role must have skill in a projectile weapon. This does include guns. While it might be tempting to try your hand at a machine gun of some kind, the 'Archer' class is about accuracy, so things like pistols or sniper rifles are more suited."

"The 'Rider' class is a specialist at mounted combat. Horse, jet, boat, motor-cycle, it doesn't matter. If you can ride in or on it and you feel that you are the best at what you do, then the 'Rider' class is the way to go. Daredevils feel free to apply, I'm sure that the audience would love to see you."

"Fifth in the list of Servants is 'Caster'. This one is for magi only I'm afraid. 'Caster' refers to those who use magic, so I'm afraid that regular individuals will be unable to meet the criteria for this one."

"Servant number six is 'Assassin'. Stealth and silence is the weapons of this servant. Making your way through crowds undetected is essential to be good at this style of fighting. And of course, it is time to make something of note here. Assassinations are allowed, and there will be a chance of death for some contestants. Don't worry though. All members of the audience will be protected by our security, so feel free to watch in safety. We would also like to mention that viewing of this contest is rated of mature audiences, 15 years or older."

15 years or older, chance of death... oh no... That place is getting a little too violent sounding to me.

"Number seven in the list of servants is 'Berserker' Well thought out plans generally go to waste on this servant. This class is all about anger and power. If you can hit people with wooden benches and you are capable of paralysing people with a single roar, feel free to participate. Though basically anyone is free to try here. Being a 'Berserker' can turn even a weak individual into someone worth fearing."

"Those are the standard classes, easily accessible by many. The next 5 are special classes, requiring specific requirements. I will still list them and their requirements, as they are still open to the public."

"Special classes... hah..." Just how are they intending to run this thing? While violent, I won't be one to deny that from a viewers seat the first 7 Servants' sound fun to watch. So what will the last five be like?

"Avenger" the dark hero. Right and Wrong walk hand in hand with this servant. Only those who have walked on both side of the argument simultaneously have the right to be an 'Avenger'"

Okay, I understand why you said that their special. What kind of requirement is that?

"Next is 'Saver', and this one is even harder. One belonging as a 'Saver' must be someone who has saved many of lives through struggle. No-one today holds a title like the 'messiah' these days, but if you created charities or saved many lives in the line of duty, step on up and give it a shot."

"Stepping it up we get to 'Ruler', he or she if the case may be, that stands over all other. Being of this class requires amazing levels of charisma. Important members of parliament, religions and businesses are the most likely candidates. A single word can turn the tide of the battle field. So take up the reigns of destiny and shatter all who stand before you!"

I wait for the next one, starting to feel expectant. The woman who had shown little emotion at the beginning was starting to display it. Slight movements of the body were occurring, and her pitch and tone were changing regularly now. I waited but she didn't speak. In fact, she looked reluctant too. An awkward silence prevailed until the women wearing a suit murmured something I barely managed to hear. "_I'm not saying this..._"

"Then I'll do it." With those words, the man who proclaimed this very event, Duwain, hopped back on screen. I say hopped, because he is bound by chain, his legs and arms are tightly bound, forcing him to hop so he could move. "Second last is the 'Temptress' servant. Only beautiful women are allowed to apply. If you have the style and are capable of flaunting it to entice others... *cough* _like Aventis here_ *cough* then feel free to participate. HOLD THE POWER TO MAKE MEN BOW TO YOU IN YOUR HANDS! GYAHAHAHA! _I won't though..."_

The events on the screen take a comedic light as the chained individual is slapped so hard that he disappeared off the screen. The woman gives a light cough before continuing. "Finally, there is the servant 'Trickster". Cunning and wit are the sword and shield of this servant. We aren't talking simple problem solving here. A good 'Trickster' should be capable of changing the fate of a nation via their actions. Tricks are the go here. As long as you laugh last, then you are set."

"The preliminaries will start at midnight leading into Wednesday and the true event shall start a day later. Please note that any and all items being brought to the Islands, ranging from toothbrushes to swords must be declared before entering the plane. Also, for the people who wish to participate in the Holy Grail war, weapons will be supplied if they are needed. Thank you for listening, and I hope to see you there."

"Wait I haven't..." As the news returns I hear those last few words from Duwain. At least with that woman speaking, things seem more logical now. A tournament set up for viewer entertainment... It sounds nice, but I'm still unsure... Oh well, I can think about that later. I have more pressing matters at hand. Like undoing these cuffs.

Ironically enough, the one who ended up coming to my rescue wasn't dad but rather Ashley. Though in the end, she only came to the garage because Dad managed to coax her to fetch me anyway. She told me quickly that Dad wanted to hold an impromptu family meeting, and that he was busily preparing for it.

After getting out of the restraints I dashed back into the house and made my way straight to the bathroom. After purging my mouth of all dirt I made my way over to the dining room table, leading me to the current situation.

Dad's sitting at the head of the table, with a clothe spread in front of him hiding two small packages underneath. Ashley is already sitting down at the table and I make way over to take my regular seat at the table.

Dad has a serious look in his eyes as he proceeded to speak to us. "Now I know that I've tried to ask you to go along with my selfishness before, however so far you have said 'No', are rightfully so. However, after that second announcement, the feeling that I must go even is stronger than before. They speak as if magic is real, and while the personalities leave much to look for, their eyes spoke the truth. Or at least it appears to me as such."

"Magic isn't a real thing dad, you acknowledge that yourself." Ashley is as blunt as ever. She's been cold and methodical from a young age. Not much in the way of friends, but smart, like smarter than me level of smart. And I'm two years older. Though that probably doesn't mean so much when I spend most of my time learning magic over something like history or mathematics.

"True, however, and I say however, if I was proven wrong that would mean a great deal. A 'Real' magician existing could totally render the stage magician useless. I wish to confirm whether such a thing truly exists with my own eyes, and if it does, take appropriate action. I've already down some research on their website and their security seems fairly tight."

"They have a web site?" A curt nod from Dad answers my question. "Okay, we have information now, but still, I'm not going to just say yes to something like this. They did say that participating was dangerous didn't they?"

"And I'm not intending to have any of us to participate. We are all going to watch from a safe distance, as a family. Your mother included if I can manage. I figured you would be stubborn however, and have taken measures to sway you around. Though you could just call it bribery"

Bribery? What kind of father just talks about bribery as if it nothing? Though, could whatever is underneath the clothe be what he is planning to buy us of with.?

"To Ashley, I'm giving my notebook containing many notes I've made while I was an amateur magician. It even contains all the secrets on how to perform the "Shattered Coffin" trick that Leigh was agonizing over last month. You can use the knowledge inside however you want. Including to bribe and blackmail Leigh, I'll just whistle and ignore it."

"When do we leave?" What? You changed your mind just like that? And I thought I was going to inherit that book? Dad always waved it in my face, saying I would inherit it when I was ready, but now, all it's going to serve as now is a bargaining chip, where I'm forced to follow my little sisters whims. And just from where did she develop this kind of personality. She always keeps to herself so I'll admit that I won't understand all the facets of her personality, but still I had no idea that she had this kind of personality trait.

Ashley quickly takes the book and leaves the table in a hurry. Judging by her actions, she seems intent on hiding the book from me. Well just you wait Ashley, I'll you some sly tricks and soon that book will be in my possession. Have your fun at my expense for now.

As I glare at my retreating sister, my dad gives a light cough. "Leigh, now I know you wanted that book, however, I have something for you that should make up for it." He flicks the cloth away to reveal a deck of cards. One that I instantly recognised. How could I not, the deck case is made of steel, and emblazoned with imagery of demons. "I'm giving you the custom made deck of cards that I used for my big premier. They were a gift to me, and now they are a gift to you. I'd probably be careful with it if I were you. There's a high chance that the cards are cursed. My recommendation, wear gloves whenever you intend to use these cards. The amount of times that I've shed blood with these cards is immense. The cards inside are specially made of... well I forget the name of the stuff, but it should be fairly strong, however the cards funnily enough came out sharp, as in both cutting the deck and cutting yourself. Just be careful with them okay?"

Dad's special custom made deck... Who cares about a note pad? I have obtained what could possibly be the coolest deck of cards ever. "Dad, bribery excepted. I'll start packing." I feel a little agonized over the fact I was basically just bought out, but for now I don't care. It wasn't like I was expressing no interest towards this 'tournament' at all. I get up from the chair and make my way towards my room to look over the cards carefully. But before I get there I should turn around and say one thing.

"I still haven't fully forgiven you for giving your notebook to Ashley"

Monday finally arrived, and with all of our stuff packed we took a long drive to the nearest commercial airport. That happens to be a whole 2 hours away. Regardless, an early morning is never a good morning so I'm standing in the Airport, at 7 in the morning, with probably a very unhappy look on my face.

That's not to say that I'm not excited, it's just that the early morning, plus my inability to appropriate Dad's journal of Ashley has left me slightly grouchy. Oh well, we still have to wait a while for the flight so I guess I'm going to take a nap in one of the chairs for a while.

"-going to arrive?" Huh, what was that? "You can't make it in time?" Dad's... on the phone... is it Mum? I struggle to straighten my senses to listen in. "Are you sure you'll be fine to find us on the Island? ... Yep, sure Honey, bye" I'll take that as a yes.

"I take it that Mum, won't be meeting us here then?" I pull myself out of the chair as I talk to Dad.

"It seems that there are some problems over where she is at the moment. The planes have been delayed due to heavy snow. She asked us to get ourselves some accommodation first, and then she'll contact us when she finally arrives."

So nature strikes again. Literally. No matter how great technology gets, we still can't stop the weather. Damn, I was hoping to get some tips from Mom, to help nick the journal. Oh well, if it's only a day, I should be fine. It gives me ample time to plot and plan. Ashley has developed an evil smile these last couple of days, it's like she's taunting me. Did she develop an entire new personality upon getting that book or something?

I start to drift off again soon after and before I know it it's time to board the plane. The first thing to notice is that the plane is not of one of the standard charters that I recognise. It really does look like these planes were made just for this event. Hopefully they aren't shoddy quick jobs, designed to only last a couple of trips to minimize costs. I would prefer to survive my flights, thank you very much.

The second thing for me to notice, and something I am outright calling odd, is that the flight attendants who greet us and the other passengers all look similar. Not that their clones on something, they just all have pale skin, red eyes, and silvery white hair. Did someone donate large amounts of money to the Flight Training for Albino's Foundation? It seems a little off to me, though thinking about it, almost everything about this feels odd to me. Ashley seems even more unnerved about it than me.

"What are the odds of having an entire plan attended to by Albino's" I ask my sister a slightly nonsensical question. It's not like I'm discriminatory or anything, it's just plain odd.

"So low I haven't actually finished calculating." And that is the official verdict from the studyholic. The odds of this being a coincidence are low, but why? Well, they at least seem like well trained professionals, they smile when they speak, and are courteous to others. They are model flight attendants. Well, putting all the complicated stuff aside, I lean into my seat and prepare for the flight. I'm not the best with flying, so I want to be as braced as possible by the time we start moving.

The flight was comfortable to say the least. It was a smooth ride, and everyone was treated with an wide choice of movies and with an extensive menu. I refused however, opting to wait until our plane reached its destination. The flight wasn't too long, so I just picked an long action movie and zoned out until it finished, only to swap to a new one when it finished. I never got the chance to finish the second one however as we were inform of our imminent arrival at our destination. It's a shame, I was actually quite enjoying this movie too.

"The captain would like to inform you that we will reach our destination, the Eden Islands, in five minutes time. Please faster your seat points as we will soon come in for landing."

Dad quickly fastens his seat-belt. "Well, things are about to get interesting. Leigh, Ashley, when we get off the plane, wait right outside, okay?"

"Yep"

"Already plan to"

Soon after the plane come in for a perfectly smooth landing, and I take my small luggage off the plane with me. I have a small backpack containing my basic necessities and the basic items for a couple of simple magic tricks including the special deck of cards I got from Dad. Anything more bulky, like clothes and more impressive items are stored in the rear of the plane, so I'll have to wait for it to be unloaded.

Due to the positioning of the seats I get off the plane first, so I stand off to the side and wait of the rest of the family to get off. Taking a quick look around, the airport is fairly large, incredibly new looking, and is filled with what must be a thousand people on this one floor. Looking up at the list of incoming flights they have conveniently placed above me, I can see that planes for Egypt, Germany and England just arrived, and a plane from Spain is due in five minutes. There really is a lot of people coming here. How many plan to view, how many plan to participate. I really can't be sure, but some of the people who are moving through the crowd stick out like sore thumbs, I can see someone dressed in robes, a man trying to rip of the Matrix and someone with a katana. Even more stand out, but trying to categorize them all would be tedious. Particularly now that Dad and Ashley have arrived.

"Let's head over to fetch our luggage" We push our way over to the conveyor belt and wait for our luggage to come around. Dad's is the first to come around. It also stands out like a clown in a white padded room. For reasons I may never know, he brought most of his stuff in the coffin. The same coffin he used for his tricks. It is currently sealed up with chains, but it looks so creepy I can't even begin to imagine what possessed him to use it. It least he also brought so equipment to help move the thing otherwise that coffin would be stuck going in a perpetual oval.

Ashley's stuff was next. She had a large travel bag packed with all her stuff. It is massive mind you. Due to the sheer size of it, she probably brought half of her personal library with her. I'm fairly sure you could easily fit a whole person in that thing and still get away with packing your wardrobe. Once again, thankfully the thing has wheels and a handle, so she can move it with ease.

My stuff comes around last. Customs had a field say with it. Or at least, should of. My bag got through fairly easily back at the other airport, and as I wheel my giant suitcase towards security they take a quick look and let me through. They were albino as well on an interesting note. Regardless, I had throwing knifes, mirrors, smoke bombs, actual swords and various other implements neatly stored in my giant wheeled suitcase, using my clothes to help pad it all.

I find it quite weird that they just let me through, but I was even more spooked when they just smiled and waved dad through. HE HAS A GOD DAMN COFFIN. And they smiled, bowed and just let him through.

As we leave the airport we find ourselves at a sort of transportation terminal with even more albino's acting as guides. Yep that's it. I swear, the entire world's population of Albino's must work at this place. Is there anyone working at this place who can even think about sporting a tan?

One of the guides walked over to us and greeted us. "Welcome to Lucidus Island, the central island for the Eden Isles. Since you just arrived am I correct in assuming that you will need to seek out a place of accommodation?"

Dad answers back, hesitantly, probably as confused about the sheer amount of albinos like I am. "Yes, I wasn't able to find much on accommodation here, only that it would be arranged on arrival. I would be most thankful if you could point us in the right direction."

"Of course. But first, I would like to ask a question. There are many structured and themed part of the accommodation areas so suit all people, so for reference on directing you to a suitable zone may I please have you country of origin and occupation or affiliation?"

"Australia. And I'm currently an author, though I was a magician originally"

"A Magician?" The Guide looks at Dad strangely, like what he said was slightly out of place. Does magic really exist or...

"Only small time though, I never actually made it properly into the big leagues."

"Ah. Just using the term then, don't worry sir, I have already worked out an adequate location for you and your... family I presume?"

My Dad gives a quick nod. "Yep, my Son and Daughter. And the Missus is coming too. Her flight got delayed, so she isn't here yet."

"Okay. Also, can I please get your names?"

"Cayden Everett. My wife, who isn't here is Letisha. This is Leigh, and finally Ashley."

"Very well. I have taken note. Follow me to the Loading bay." Looking around, I could see a large amount of people hoping into trains, but we headed off towards a Taxi and bus terminal. We dragged our large luggage behind us, walking through the now rather thinned out crowd.

We were directed to leave our large luggage to some workers who started to load it into a small truck and we were taken over towards the ta... Wait what, they have taxi coloured Limos? The three of us were directed towards one of the many limousines that dotted this place. Our guide quickly informed the driver as to our supposed destination. The three of us then hopped into the Limo and were driven into the large city landscape on the island.

There wasn't much traffic in the streets, and we made our way through the scrolling cityscape. It wasn't all buildings though. There were churches, parks, fountains, a fake looking waterfall and even something that looked like a shrine of some sort. This city had it all, it really looked like they have tried to accommodate the whole world.

We passed a large shopping mall before coming to a large number of hotels. The driver drove into the special sized car park and step out with us.

The first words out of his mouth were. "In case you were wondering, I'm a free service. AS is virtually all services on this island. Things like food are supplied at you hotels, but if you want anything, 'Extra', you will then be forced to actually buy things. There is an monetary exchange just around the corner from here."

The driver, once again Albino, stops and looks at us. "I should probably tell you where this is. "You are currently in the Apollo zone of Lucidus city. A nice zone that actually fits the name of the city. It is one of the many zones in the city, all which are well taken care of. At the moment you are outside of one of the best hotels we have to offer: The 'Palameyde'. Walk inside and greet the receptionist, and he will set everything up. Oh and if you ever need a ride again, just give me a call. I'll come pick you up." The driver pulls some business cards out of his pocket and gives one to each of us. "Well, you've got all of you stuff that you had on you? Good. Your bigger luggage will arrive soon. Well, see you folks latter, I've got more work to do."

And with that, the driver hopped back into his limo, leaving us outside of the hotel. That was slightly irresponsible of him. The least he could of done was walked with us inside. Or wait for the.. "Bell boy..."

"What was that young master?" The bell boy was already standing at the ready before I had even noticed. He was looking at me intently, as if waiting for instructions.

"Oh sorry, it was nothing." The bell boy looks lightly dejected, but quickly regains his full smile.

"Please hand over any bags to me, I'll carry them for you." I hand over my backpack to the bell boy after removing the special deck and putting it into my pocket. It's fairly large, but I have big pockets.

Dad's old deck is very counterproductive in terms of hiding it, however, used correctly this deck is quite amazing for tricks. The cards are perfectly sized and slide in my hands easily. In the last couple of days that I've been practising I've gotten quite good at using these cards. It's at the level now that I actually prefer this deck of others. Who ever made the cards was a genius. Well, I won't deny that I always handle the cards carefully with gloves on however. I'd rather not experience the loss of blood, or try my hand of working out if these cards really are cursed. Not that I'm a believer in that kind of thing.

We walk into the hotel and are immediately overwhelmed. This place is easily a 5 star hotel. With the liberal use of gold and Greek styled pillars, it was very obvious that this place would be normally only accessible to the richest. Over at the reception desk, the receptionist was speaking to a man in a foreign language, Italian, I think. As we approached the desk the man received a card and was directed upstairs by another bellboy.

The receptionist, a beautiful woman, still albino by the way, greeted us with a smile. "Welcome to the Palameyde. As part of the cities opening event all accommodation is free for the entirety of the entertainment. May I please have your name so that I may direct you to your room?"

Once again Dad was the one to answer for us. "Everett. Cayden Everett. I am looking for a room for a family of four. My wife isn't here yet, but she should be arriving tomorrow."

"Ah, yes sir. I have already been informed. You and your family have been assigned the 5th floor as you residence for your stay here. Here are four key cards, one for each member of the family, use them in the elevator to get to your floor. The Bellboy will lead you to over to elevators. Also, before I forget, in this hotel all of the room service options will be listed on a special notice board, most of which are free of charge. Just use the phone beside the board to contact us and we will get right on it. Thank you for staying at our humble hotel." Humble, yeah right, this place screams decadence. I'll stop complaining though, staying in a place like this, at no cost? This place is like a dream.

The bellboy led us over to the elevators, the insides of which were actually very large. They were a good five meters square and covered entirely in velvet like material, except for the floor. The bellboy pulled out a card and flashed it in front of a panel on the wall. I guess this is the demonstration on how to use our cards. The panel lit up and showed the number 5 and the elevator began to rise. After the short trip we were revealed to the 5th floor.

The bellboy quickly gave us a tour of the floor. "First we have the living room, quick large and built to ensure open space and comfort for all inside. We also offer you a 72 inch plasma screen television set with access to channels across the globe and access to the live feeds of the events once they start. Do note however, that the best viewing will actually be made from the direct premise, so I humbly recommend going to the other islands to view the action."

Next we were shown over the next room, the Dining room. There was a large table, with enough space to fit 12 people, obviously for guests should we invite them. It had both electronic lighting, and a candle chandelier, should we want to use it.

There was a kitchen nearby, should we wish to cook. "I would however like to note that our chefs are very well trained in a large variety of cooking, and in particular we do specialize in French dishes. I would ask that you should try them at your leisure."

"If you follow me this way, you will find 4 normal bedrooms, and the master bedroom at the end of the corridor. Each bedroom has an attached bathroom and toilet for your personal use. A cleaner will arrive at 9 in the morning and at 4 in the afternoon every day to clean up so don't worry. With the spare rooms, feel free to use them for guests, but please inform us of the number as they arrive."

"Over this way, we have the study. We also have several well renowned novels supplied should you wish to do some reading. Just call room service and ask. Over beyond that door is in your personal swimming pool. Feel free to use it as much as you want. I do recommend not swimming alone however, as the staff will not be serving as life guards for the pool I'm afraid. Personal space and privacy issues I'm afraid. Lastly, and most certainly not least, we have a room that is really up to you do decide the use for. We call it the creator's room. You are allowed to freely rearrange this room using whatever furniture you wish to use. A place for a piano, a small Jacuzzi, anything you want to do with it. Once again, just call room service for immediate assistance."

With that the bellboy went about moving our luggage into the rooms, and was soon greeted by another bellboy who had our larger luggage on one of those rake things. Once they were done they left us to unpack our clothes and personal items. I chose the room closest to the elevator. It uses purple and silver as it décor choice, and well, I just really like the colour purple.

One thing I did note however, is that both Dad and Ashley have serious looks on their faces. I have no idea as to why Ashley looks so serious but Dad, is murmuring about how unbelievable it is to be treated to such an amazing hotel free of charge. I must say, I absolutely agree with him.

It's still early in the afternoon, but I realize something. I haven't eaten anything, and I mean anything since last night. My stomach is trying to devour itself to sate my appetite. I check the notice board that is near the elevator and see what room service offers. The first thing I notice however, is that they mention a restaurant on the first floor. Once again, it seems to be free of charge. I return to my room and get my key card and my deck of cards and go ask Dad and Ashley if they want to come too. Ashley answers with a quick 'no' from the other side of her bedroom door, but Dad readily accepts.

The two of us head down to the restaurant, it doesn't really seem to have a name, but it's part of the hotel. Unlike the rest of the hotel, it has a more accepting feel, like I'm actually allowed inside if I'm not rich. There is currently no other customers, so me and Dad sit down at one of the tables at random. We both order some food. In my case Lasagna. In dads, he just ordered some bagels. Now I know that this place supposedly specializes in French food, but I'd rather go with something I'm used to at the moment.

After a surprisingly short wait our meals are brought to us by a waiter. It looked fabulous and tastes delicious. After about 5 minutes of enthusiastic eating, another customer arrives, a blond woman aged at about 25, wearing formal attire. A green dress and a coat, with high heeled shoes. The looks around the room and her eyes finally meet mine and Dad's. She seems to stop and think for a small second before seems to realise something and quickly makes our way over to our table.

The woman looks dad in the face and asks "You wouldn't happen to be 'The' Demon disciple Everett would you?"

Dad looks at her for a second before answering back, a slightly nostalgic look on his face, quickly shaken away and replaced with a smile. "Formerly so, but yes I would be him"

"I can't believe that I'm meeting you in person! I was a frequent visitor to your events when they were still on and I was even at that unfortunate show. It was such a bad accident, and I felt a piece of my childhood leave when I heard you had retired due to the accident."

"Well, I had little choice, my hands have lost much of their flourish. My arms just can't move at such speeds any more. While I could possibly still be on stage, I'm afraid it just wouldn't be the same. As such, I'm passing my knowledge on to my son, Leigh." Dad nods over towards me.

The woman looks over to me and says, with a smile on her face, "I hope you make your father proud. And in turn, give a new audience the same feeling I used to have. Anyway, Mr Everett, would we be able to have a talk, I have much I would just love to discuss with you."

"Of course Miss..."

"Elaine Martoritz. Please just call me Elaine. Well then first could I ask you about..." And with that I just drowned her out. Now I love Dad's stories just as much as anyone else does, but quite frankly I just got metaphorically shoved off to the side by this woman. She really doesn't have interest in me at all.

I quickly polished of my lasagna and got out of my chair. It looks like Dad and his fan will be continuing their chat for a while so I left the vicinity, and by that I mean the entire building. I have my mobile phone on me so I can be contacted, and it is currently at maximum battery life so I don't have to worry about that.

I step out into the city and decide to check out the sights. The first thing I think to do is to check out the shopping mall I saw on the way to the hotel. If my memory serves me well, it should be three blocks down from here.

I walk down the street noting the wide variety of people walking around. People from most walks of life a walking around the city. There were various people travelling around in the Limousine taxis, and what appeared to be several clergymen moving through the park nearby. They seem rather hostile to everyone else for some reason however. Actually, looking around, everyone is either minding their own business or staring daggers at others. There seems to be some discord here, but for reasons that I just can't seem to figure out.

A little walk down from there is the Shopping mall, it doesn't seem to have a name yet, or the painters haven't given it one yet.

Looking in it's easy to see that rather than having worldwide franchises everywhere, this island has taken a different approach. Reading the notice board it's fairly easy to understand the rules of this place. It's basically first come first served. There are designated areas all throughout the mall, and once you claim it it's yours to do business in. AS such there is a plethora of different store for different purposes littering the mall. At least the food stores are roughly located in the same area.

One store however is painfully obvious. It has 3 times the standard area of anyone else, and the owner seems to be yet another of what seems to be this islands native people. Even more than that though, it's selling weapons. Pistols, Machine guns, Rocket launchers, Broadswords, rapiers, whips, daggers... hell there is even flintlock rifles and a cannon over in the corner. There is a blatantly obvious sign saying "Offering alteration prowess at negotiable prices."

I'm curious, hell, who wouldn't be? I take a little look around, trying to not get in the way of some unsavoury folk who have also found their way to this store. I find my eyes drawn towards a set of throwing knives displayed behind so glass. The metal and hilt is engraved in a strange pattern that makes it look amazing, and considering that I didn't bring my throwing knives here I am most definitely interested in having some practice done with these beautify blades.

I don't really have much money on me. "And what on earth is an odo meant to be?" The knives are being sold at 4000 odo, is that the currency here? And just how much is that anyway?

"Odo is the currency being used, and it is a term representing the energy contained inside living things. Your life force if you will, though paying with your life doesn't sound friendly." Oh god, someone's right behind me! Well, the voice is female and sounds rather friendly so it's no to bad. I turn around to look at the per... what the hell kind of fashion statement is that?! She's wearing something like a long white dress with long sleeves and a hood that not only covers her face but her entire head is enclosed. It's like she took a white hood and stitched it together so the entire face was hidden. ON top of that, she is wearing white gloves and white shoes. I can't see a single pieces of flesh, only white. Every last drop is white. Can she even see like that?

"Um..."

"Though, if you had no idea about the currency I assume you have none on you. I happen to be in a good mood at the moment, so I guess a can pay for those well crafted knives for you."

"You can see?" That's the real that surprises me.

"Quite well thank you. Judging by the fact that you are in here can I assume that you plan to participate in the event that's being held here?"

"Not at all, rather I'm someone training to be a stage magician. Judging by the atmosphere it might be important to state the extra word. Anyway, I just thought they were a good set of knives that I could use to practice with." They really do look it. I haven't held them in my hands, but they look like they are well balanced. I hope.

"Ah, shop tender, can we take a look at these knives. Well that's a nod, let's take them out and have a look shall we?" Are we really allowed to just do that? "Oooh, these really are well balanced! Here take a look."

The strange woman offers one of the knives to me and I take a hold of it. It has a nice weight to it and I quickly balance it on my finger to test the balance of the blade. Yep, this should do fine. I also quickly test the sharpness of the blade quickly. That's passes as well. "These are really good knives. But still, I don't think I should just let some random person I just met buy something expensive for me."

"Call me Ven, that solves problem number one, and they're not really that expensive but if it make you feel better, and you have something on you can you do a small trick for me, and that'll be your payment to me."

I have dad's deck, I have my gloves, and I'm wearing suitable attire. "Sure. Also allow me to introduce myself. I'm Leigh, the..." I need a stage name... I'm not ready to steal dad's old stage name, and It's not like I have... "the silver magician, at your serving. I don't need much space to do this, so I'll show you my favourite card trick." As I'm speaking I have already put on my magician persona and have equipped my gloves.

"Now the deck I am using is quite special. It was used by a man hailed to be a demon. These cards have the unique little property of always giving me the card I want. Even if it's one that draw and gets shuffled back into the deck. You can check the cards if you want. They are all the same size and aren't marked in any way."

I hand Ven the cards and after checking them over she gives them back. "I've checked them, and there is indeed nothing in the cards that helps you. No marks, no hidden spells to help rearrange or teleport cards, nothing to help you out."

As I get back the cards I shuffle them in front of my audience, the strange woman Ven, plus a couple of the other customers and even the shop keeper. Of course she just mentioned magic, and considering the host of this island mentioned real magic I feel I should play along somehow. "Nothing you could find. I said, the former owner was a demon. I'm fairly sure he was quite amazing at hiding his tricks and curses. And let me prove it. As you can see, I'm shuffling this deck profusely. I'm even cutting this deck in front of your eyes and shuffling again. There should be no way that I know which cards is where."

I hold the cards, slightly spread out in front of me. "If you could, please take a single card. Then show it to the audience. And, don't tell me what it was" The woman of pure white takes a single card and show it to the audience. I really have no idea what card it is. I've really shuffled the cards in a way that I have no idea what is what. But no matter. "Now that everyone has seen the card, please give it back and I'll put it pack in the deck and shuffle it."

I get the card back and go to shuffle the cards lowering my arms a bit so that I can slip a card up into my sleeves. I finish shuffling the deck and hold the deck out again. "And now the deck will whisper in my ears and tell me what card was chosen earlier. And now I wi..."

"You slipped a card up into your sleeves." The woman who should by all rights be blind, Ven, calls out the action I did just earlier.

"Oh? And just what are you insinuating? That I'm cheating?" I flip the card out of my sleeve. "I just really like the design of the ace of spades for this deck." The card I flipped out was indeed the ace of spades, and has on it the image of a demon wielding a sword artistically rendered on it. "But that wasn't you card." I pull a card out of the middle of the deck and show it to Ven. "The card you pulled out of the deck earlier was the 9 of hearts. It would have been better if you pulled a face card or one of the aces or jokers. They have quite the impressive artwork." I give a devilish smile to the individual who fell right into my trap, using my smile to tell the story.

The first to start clapping is my stunned "temporary assistant" Ven, and soon the rest of the small audience claps as well. I shuffle the cards again before putting them back into their special container.

"Well then, budding magician, I believe I owe you some knives. Take them will pride. I must ask though, how did you pull that off, and how did you know that I was going to see your fake trick?"

"That, is what makes it magic. And a true magician never explains his."

I'm walking back to the hotel, everything going my way right? The thrill of the performance is always alluring to me, and as such, I readily took the opportunity to show off. And now, I have a brand new set of throwing knives to practice with.

"...ese... body... me!" Did I just hear something? Now, I know I was just humming in joy, but I could swear I just heard somebody...

"Somebody, Anybody!" Yep heard it clearly that time. Ignoring it... wouldn't be my kind of thing. And it doesn't sound like the one who is calling out is in a good position. Help is always welcome, and I am always free to give it... mostly.

I quickly make my way down the alley way to the left, it's a testament to the fact that the city is new by the fact that the place is really clean, not a single piece of graffiti or built up dirt covering the walls. That's not what I came to look for though. I little further in, hidden around the corner I see what looks to be a grown man tormenting a girl of about my age. Seeing as I have no confidence in my ability to easily defeat someone larger than me, I pull out my brand new throwing knives. Threat only. Threat. Only.

"You know, I don't think picking on someone smaller is exactly the best example of being a like able human being. Also, I think it's really not something that is liked by women."

"You helping out this 'Heebie Jeebie' bitch?"

"The what?" Did he just use a very old and rather vague term? Also, that wouldn't happen to be a pistol that he's holding would it? And is that a silencer? Okay, I'm outmatched. So let's just calmly run... and oh yeah the girl. I really don't like standing anywhere near a gun, but I'm trying to do something good here. Let's just play this carefully and hid the knives behind my back. I quickly tuck them into the back of my pants. Awkward, but the only place I can have both hands open and not seem suspicious, even if I can't move quickly now.

"This stupid little "Magic" little girl, she got on my nerves you see. Here I am minding my business, when she's talking about how great her magic is as she's walking down the street. Really ruined my day you see. So, I decided to show her that what you can trust in this world is really only your body, and the calming capability of guns you see." So this entire thing is entirely unprovoked. And you are threatening her with a gun, just because of that. "Her friend ran away as soon as I waved this bad boy around. Jeeze, all of you are just plain pathetic. Even the shady guy who called me here kept hidden from me all this time. You proclaim that your hot stuff, but you see, your nothing. Anyway, there's no reason for you to bother about her, so just move along kid."

"And if I still care?"

"Do you not see the pistol?" Of course I do! And it scares the hell out of me!

"And if you weren't the only one armed? And besides, do you really think that your actions are going to be ignored for long by the guys in charge of this?" I'm praying that will all the preparations that there is something of a security force or police squad on this island.

"Ah, you're right. I'll have to be quick about this" And then there is a small discernible sound and my stomach... feels... on fire? _I've... been shot?! Oh, god. This is bad... IT HURTS. Don't faint, oh, no. Fainting is death. I don't... I don't want to die_. "You're still alive? Che. I should've bought something with a bigger calibre. Oh well another bullet in you should end it for you."

_End? He's... going to kill me? No.. I don't want that... I don't want to die... I still haven't tested my knives yet... __**Yes. I have the knives. If he goes first then I don't have to die.**_ I use both hands to pull out a knife and throw both at my target. "Not if I kill you... first..." The knives leave my hands and fly towards the man, and I hear that small sound once again. My world goes black. The last little things I see as I collapse as the man in pain and the girl running. Well, if one of us lives... then maybe... it... is ... all... good...

The killer displayed his annoyance with cusses. All he wanted to do was to show some arrogant girl and now she had gotten away. Not to mention the two knives that had been planted in his arms. The pain was evident on his face, and his pistol lay on the ground. He slowly and attentively pulled the knives out of his arms before reaching over to pick up the dropped pistol.

"Are you the one who killed the boy? No, since you're holding those knives and by your current state, I would say yes."

The strangely garbed woman, Ven, had walked into the alleyway, and surveyed the area. Maybe if the man could see her face, he would have seen the look of displeasure on her face. However, rather than looking at her, the Man looked at the other person to arrive, the owner of the Island itself, Duwain.

"The big boss himself has arrived. Well, you can punish me if you like; however, I've been hired to participate in your little game by my benefactor. See just look at the necklace, it holds the... Corvis? Yes, Corvis coat of arms. Solid gold too. Now, you can punish me, but you'll lose out on one of your prized competitors."

Duwain looked on at the scene with a slight look of interest and at the same time, annoyance. "It is a true shame, the show hasn't even begun and there are already two people dead. Ven, clean up the mess, leaving blood and bodies everywhere will scare every one unreasonably."

"Yes Master"

The killer waved his gun in an offhand manner and said "So someone else has died already as well? Damn, people work fast. Also goes to show that your security is just..." He looked down and saw the most peculiar thing. Both his hands were missing. It took a second and then the pain hit. "Ahhhhhhh! What the hell! How the hell! What just..."

Ven stood right in front of the man and held onto two of the knives that she had purchased for Leigh before they had separated. She had used these same knives to completely sever the killer's arms. And with a slight sigh, she removed his head.

She walked over to still body of the boy she had left only 5 minutes earlier and put the knives back into their case and put the case into his hands. "It is a true shame that you ended up this way. Your little tricks could have brought happiness to many people."

"Did you know the kid?"

"Yes, he was supposedly an apprentice stage magician. Though I don't think he needed the apprentice title anymore. He completely deceived me. The least I can do is pay for his way into the afterlife." She sifted through her clothes, looking for her money, before realising she had used the rest she had to purchase the knives. She walked over to the decapitated body of the boys' killer and pulls off the solid gold necklace and rests it on the boy's chest. "I saw the girl you saved as she ran away. Know that you did well. Use this gold to pay off the ferryman."

"Just remember, take the bodies to one of the designated points. Also remember, if you ever decide on a wish, it's still open there when we win."

"Yes master, I remember. I might actually consider it just to challenge myself against this boy properly."

"Was he really that good?"

"Maybe, but the fact that he outsmarted me was what caught my eye. In the end, it didn't save him though, only the life of another, but in the end, will it all be for naught."

"Just clean up the blood and any damage to the environment."

"Also if he has any, we should inform his family."

"Then you make the arrangements, I still have things to do. I must ensure that there's no chance of me losing the upcoming fights."

_Oh you who steps into the land of darkness, know this. All that is here is death and lies. Now that you have shut out the noise of all but my voice, know this: Fast or slow, I am the end result of all of this, and I will... kill... everyone._

**Authors Notes (Warning! May go on for a while)_  
_**

It has been a while since I've actually thrown myself into writing something, and I've never actually written a fanfiction. So I'm try my hand at this, and hopefully it will come out fine.

For those that wonder. Yes I did end this first chapter like I did. Originally the first chapter was meant to go until the start of the Holy Grail War itself, but after examining it, chances are that it would be about 60 pages long before I stopped. Hence, I cut it in half, and the final result is what you should have just read.

I intend to make this story one that is easy for people both knowledgeable to the Fate/Staynight universe, and those who aren't. If you don't understand anything, it is because I haven't got around to explaining it yet, or that I accidently forgot. If that happens, I apologize in advance.

Of Importance to note, I have yet to mention a single character from the Fate universe in this chapter. (I did however, mention someone, though they will not appear). This is because that rather than using the characters from Fate, I'd rather use the themes such as the Grail War, and the Servants. This also allows me to freely write character personalities rather than stress over making every character sound right. That is not to say that I'm against bringing characters in, it is just that at the moment I do not plan to. If enough people ask me to, then I'll see what I can do.

Also to note is the mention of 12 Servants. Only the final Servant Class, Trickster, is of my own creation. All other 11 Servants have been created by Type Moon, and I'll never take credit for them. Of course, in retrospec, having 12 Servants is going to make things Chaotic for me. A Servant is known for being incredibly powerful, and hence I'll have to throw balance out the window and just roll with it. (That's actually how it goes normally anyway) I do have to actually work out the class features of Avenger, Saver, Temptress and Trickster though. I actually found out Ruler's Class feature recently. That makes things easier for me.

Also, as part of the story, Humans, or other sentient creatures are allowed to become Servants in this War. I'm not going to use it per se, but the Idea of a Grizzly bear wearing thick metal plates as armour as a Berzerker just made me laugh a little. That, and the Fate Universe has cases of individuals defeating Heroic/Legendary Spirits anyway.

Finally, I have several ideas for Servants anyway, but if anyone who reviews wants to also drop a Servant idea, I won't instantly toss aside. If it seems really interesting, even if I don't intend to have it as the main Servant, I might include them in the preliminary rounds. So, if you want to drop an idea, just list a name of an important figure, Servant class, a rough description of what they would look like (in this setting), and give one quirk that they have to give them character. Each Servant in Fate had something that made them different from their Legend, hence I would like to try the same.

Anyway, an example would be something like this: King Leonidas, Lancer, Dark hair and a bushy beard, refuses to wear a shirt, and has a god complex due to the fact that the ancient greeks worshiped him king of the gods, a.k.a. Zues (True fact).

Anyway, Thank you for reading my first chapter, and if you want to, please Review. I'm still a bit rusty, so the help would be nice.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Note: After finding the problem with the first chapter, this one actually has the breaks in the story from the start. Also, this chapter has more action and actually fate stuff occuring. Also, spacing! Enjoy!

**Chapter 2 – Servant, born out of coincidence**

Several years ago: Japan, in the early morning

Japan is a land of 8 million gods, but even with this fact, many of a magus just choose to ignore its existence, and that of its inhabitants. And now, for the first time in his life, Duwain had stepped onto Japanese soil. His search into the source of the constant repetition of days had led him here, but after arriving in the country his destination seemed vague. While he was able to identify the source as being in this country, he was unable to determine how such a feat was possible. Was a giant magic seal being used? Was one of the legendary magicians, each masters of a great magic doing something that defied logic once again?

Duwain had no clue where to search and decided to set up a base of operations. He knew that once the fourth day passed in the vicious cycle he would most likely wake up once again in the basement in his home in Paris. Magecraft is something that is created when one needs to do something they can't normally, and as such Duwain had sought a solution through it. The source of his salvation from this endless cycle was the protection circle he had made. Wouldn't it then be plausible to use that very same magic, or a slightly altered one to reinstate a location to awake from once the world reset?

Taking residence in a decrepit house he found on the edge of a city, Duwain started to set up his new residence. He had taken what essential things he needed for his study, and for locating the source of all of the time repetition. He brought magic tome after tome, and brought tinctures that he used to help circulate the flow of his prana. He even brought with him the very protective circle that started everything with him, floor and all.

After setting up, all he could do was try to locate as to where the source of the distortion came from. He took several magical instruments with him outside, noting that stars now littered the sky, and how much time had passed, setting up his new residence. He walked around the city, making his way through the streets and walking up the large hills to look around at the view. In the end however, the time spent searching was fruitless. His search to find a distortion proved pointless. The city he had set up in held nothing for him.

And like that, the fourth day passed, and Duwain noted something of importance. Midnight. The world distorted around him right as it turned midnight in the city he stayed. In Japan, the 4 days were possibly the four full days in Japan. Was this proof that he was correct in believing Japan to be the source? Duwain pondered as the world faded away.

As he struggled to see again, he was greeted to a drab sight that made him feel both happy and sad. The world is as dark as it was just a few seconds ago; he was in the same room as he was before the stroke of midnight, but it was empty, but for the piece of floor with the magic circle on it. All of his equipment, gone. Only the clothes on his back, and the few things contained in the circle remained. That was a sad indication that his spell served its purpose, somewhat. Even if he had lost everything he owned, of maybe it was back at his true home?

But regardless, he was left with almost nothing, in a land where only through the use of magic could he communicate with others. He couldn't read nor write the language, and as such had little idea as to where he was. All he had was the piece of floor, and that was what he would have bet his entire self on.

He left the city, using his talents to gather more things for his own. He travelled from city to city, checking slowly as to whether what he was looking for could be found. And on the fourth day, he would always try to take as much with him as possible, as he hid away from everyone, in abandoned buildings, or in reclusive caves, so as to not end up causing problems once the cycle ended.

Each turn of the cycle, all he had returned to their state from 4 days ago, but remained in the circle. His clothes were pristine once again, his equipment shined, his thin scraglings of a beard would disappear. But the wear and tear on his mind and soul refused to fade. Once again, he struggled through cycle after cycle, searching for a golden thread of knowledge that would put him on his path once again.

In the end, his wandering became more and more erratic. At times he refused to move, just opting to lie down and wait for the cycle to pass once again. And at times, he just gave up resting in the magic circle, finding himself back at the last location he rested in it, his travels going backwards because of it.

One night after staring at the moon he decided to give up, to just try ending it all. Just trying to escape everything, after one last try. He slept briefly, waking before the sun had even risen and trudged on towards his next destination. He to some transport over towards the next city, forcing him to brood about the situation. Would he finally find anything? Will he even find release should he fail? If he broke the circle, or dispelled it of set it on fire or anything, would he stop noting the cycle? Is it really in Japan? Was he wrong? He doubted himself and everything around him until he arrived at the next city.

He trudged around the city, searching until he found an abandoned manor, quite large and slightly out of place due to it western theme, located outside the cities edge. He set up once again, and waited until night.

Once night came, he took the last remaining tool he had to sense the distortion and returned to the city. That night, once again he was unable to find the source. However, that was not to say that he found nothing. Far from it. He found many things in the city, from irregular sources of prana, to an irregular leyline. Duwain's sense of curiosity tweaked slightly, just enough for his mind to slowly start working again, recovering from his given up state. Even if it wasn't what he was looking for exactly, he had something to look forward to. Maybe, just maybe. He returned home for night, and slept a sleep with a slight smile on his face for the first time in a while.

Instead of searching around, Duwain decided to try and permanently set up residence in his abandoned house. He studied and theorized for hours on end, trying to create a way that the state of the manor remained the same after the end of the cycles, even if only on the inside. He poured his heart, and the tiny flickering of his soul into his work.

And as the last day came around. He took a bet with himself. He would be outside the manor once midnight came around. And when he woke up, all of this work will be all around him as he awakens in the manor outside the cities limits. He had confidence in his work, the first piece he had truly done since he arrived in Japan. And so he wandered around outside.

He wandered through the city and wandered around, taking in the sites, something he truly hadn't done for a while. He wandered across the bridge and eventually finding a Japanese shrine up a long stairway. He only makes it hallway up though be his attention is swayed. There was something off to the side, he couldn't quite work out what it was or how he knew, but something was there.

He stepped off from the stairs and walked through the trees, following the strange feeling he had until he reached his destination. He didn't know how long he had walked for, but he was standing in a small clearing of trees. And he wasn't the only person there.

Standing as still as a statue and left hand reaching towards the moon stood a person. Yet however hard he struggled to look at the person, the image of them was always blurred, as if they didn't want to be seen. Duwain was confused, excited, happy and frightened at the same time. Everything about the scene was strange, but even so, it was like he had found something that he needed, even if he didn't know why. He hid behind the tree and looked on. The figure just stood there, and Duwain watched until midnight loomed and the figure spoke a single sentence in a voice that was as indefinable as their appearance.

"By this book of infinite wisdom, and with infinite time on my hands, I shall eventually reach my desire"

* * *

The darkness is ever present. It surrounds my entirety. The darkness is so thick that I don't even hold the ability to breathe. My lungs are on fire. My body is burning yet no light is shed. All I can struggle toward is a light that I can barely make out. Yet when I get closer with my body that struggles to even move I'm blocked. I push and push and eventually I'm free once again. I stagger forward and the light diverges in two. One is above me now... is it a moon? But the other light... I can feel it calling to me. Like some other half of me is there. I'm missing something. It's over there; I stagger over and grasp at the light. As my hand reaches towards it I feel a slight tingle and the strength leaves my body and I collapse on the ground, my body landing poorly.

"Ouuuch... thankfully that didn't hurt too bad." My vision is blurred heavily and I struggle to see. I close my eyes again, returning to the darkness again for a small second before opening them once more. I can properly see now, the question is where.

I'm sprawled on the floor looking up at what looks like an emergency light that you sometimes see in hospitals and other important buildings. Looking around I can make out a small bed with wheels on it right beside me. I guess I was dreaming on the bed, but what am I doing here? The last I remember I was... "Oh god I was shot... Twice!" I quickly check my body, easily done due to the fact that my shirt is missing; only my pants and shoes remain. I have two scars on the front side of my body, right from where the bullets passed into my body.

"I am alive! That is some luck right there, though I guess being shot in the first place rather counteracts that theory." Well at least I can't feel any pain... Though on second thought, I can't feel anything. Except the cold, I can still feel that. I take a little while to get my limbs to start moving again, but once I'm fine I slowly try to stand up, using the bed to support me. A success, thankfully.

I gaze around in the low light and see all of my personal belonging that I had on me resting on desk in front of me. Off to the side of that is a long sleeve shirt, a vest and my pair of gloves resting neatly folded. I slip on the shirt and vest noting the wonderful use of the purple shirt and silver vest. Thankfully for me the shirt is also perfect for me to do tricks with as the sleeves are loose enough for me to fit small object inside. I slip the gloves into a small pocket on the vest and go to retrieve the rest of my belongings.

It's right as I turn to get them that I notice. The reason I'm so cold looms before me on the other side of the room. A large metal door is open and a slight layer of frost coats the floor. I walk over and note immediately what it is. It's one of those large industrial freezers. The large room ones. There are several large objects in there already but I don't care. I'm more worried about why I'm located in a room with a freezer. I had thought this was a hospital, but it is quickly seeming like I'm wrong. Also while I think about, why can I here no noise at all but the sound of my footsteps and my breathing. Where am I that is so silent? This is really starting to freak me out.

I quickly gather up the rest of my stuff, my mobile phone and my wallet, my card to the hotel my new set of throwing knives and the special deck that I received from Dad. I quickly check to ensure that all the cards were in there. I open the case to take a quick peak. Yep, looks like they are all there, but I should be certain. I put the deck down for a second and put on my gloves. They are beautiful cards and I'd hate to ruin them. I count them all, and place them back inside their case. With that, the deck goes into my pocket. The problem is the knives. They have a wooden case that they are stored in, but inside there is also sheaths for the knives themselves. And I'm not quite sure I want to be holding a box of knives as I walk around. The sheaths string together to go form a single entity that you slide your belt through. Thankfully, I'm wearing one at the moment, so in a small amount of time the knives are positioned at my waist.

And now the choices before me. Do I wait here for someone to arrive? Do I go out and look for someone? Or to I just get the hell out of dodge?

*Crash*

What the hell was that? It sounded like something heavy just slammed into a wall nearby... Option 3 it is. I don't really intend to stick around a place as dangerous or ominous as this.

I make my way to the door and peek out. Empty. I walk down white hallway, in a direction away from the noise. Yet still, I see no one. Where the hell is everyone? And where the hell am I? These answers aren't found as I arrive at a door that leads outside. It's a small door though, so this might be a back entrance. I'm met by the fresh air and the sound of waves as I stand just a little back from a cliff at the ocean. Well, at least that's something.

Travelling along the cliff side for a bit I see some people for the first time. They have some light amidst the darkness, there are several light sources activated via portable generator. They are huddled up around what looks to be fireworks, the big kind. So are these people pyrotechnists? Well, I've not really sure if they are real fireworks but hey, I'm curious.

Walking over I smile and wave, "Hey, are you guys working on fireworks or something?" Looking closer, all of these people are albino, wearing protective equipment. I only noticed once I got really close to them. It really doesn't help that there is no sun in the sky. There is light thanks to the spotlights they have, but still, it's not enough to differentiate the colour of the eyes from 20 meters away in the darkness. Even at close range I can only see scraps of hair from underneath their helmets. Actually, I should probably stay back if they're wearing something like that.

One of the workers quickly moves over to me. "You shouldn't be anywhere nearby here kid. Particularly not when we are setting up fireworks." So they are working with fireworks. Hah, I guessed right, go figure.

"Actually, speaking about that, I have no idea where this is. I'm kind of lost. If you could point me in the right direction that would be much appreciated."

The worker looked at me strangely before giving a sigh. "Listen kid, I don't know how you got in here, but you're in the main compound for Lucidus Island. Listen, I'll guide you out of the compound so just follow me."

"Thanks" I follow the man as he walks off. He takes me to a large fence with a small gate. He opens it and ushers me out. "Thanks again." I quickly make my way away from there and head off towards the larger buildings in the distance.

"What was I doing inside the main compound for this island? Wouldn't that be the place that Duwain stays at? Shouldn't I have been at the hospital? And why was I in a room with a freezer? And was the reason that the power was shut off in the building I was in related to the firework display being set up.

Actually now that I think of it. I should probably call Dad. It's night already so he's probably going to kill me when I get back home. That I am going to be forced to explain as to why I was so late. Telling him that I got shot is not going to go down well. I guess I should just be glad that I'm alive for now.

I've got phone in hand now, but that's where I hesitate. I clearly look at the time on my phone and it says that it's Tuesday at 11p.m. I was sure it was Monday... "Are you telling me that I lost an entire day!?" So that's why those people back there were setting up fireworks. The preliminary round of this... what was it... The Holy Grail war? And when they say the Holy Grail, do they mean that Grail? As in that cup that Jesus used? Or is just metaphoric because the winner gets a wish granted that is referred to as the Holy Grail War?

Anyway, day lost, bad. Actually, now that I think about it, wouldn't have dad tried to contact me if I was out for a day? So why is there no sign of anyone trying to contact me? I quickly try to call Dad, but all I'm met the knowledge that I'm out of a service area. Is it just because I'm here? Or is the entire Island without service for mobile phones... and the internet? This could be very awkward.

I really have to get back home now! Dad is probably in a state of panic, and Mum should have arrived at the hotel by now, so she's probably out looking for me too. I start to run, passing by several people who look at me strangely as I pass by. Their looks however don't bother me. What bothers me is that now that the numbness has faded from my body I can feel something in a pocket on my vest. And since I've been moving so fast, it must mean that it was in my pocket from the start. But I why would something be in the pocket?

I slow to a walk and reach into the pocket and pull out a necklace. It had a gold chain and a golden medallion on it. Why the hell is this in the pocket of the vest I took? I hold it up in front of my eyes and look at it carefully. Engraved on it is a shield set up in the structure of the crests you find for noble families. It was divided into four sections. One was blank at the top left, but the one beside it had what looked like a book in it. Below the book was a sword and two the left of that was an intricate symbol that I don't recognize.

As I continue to ponder on the state of the necklaces existence a taxi pulls over beside me. I take a quick look over and see a man step out onto the curb beside me. He is wearing a suit and a tie and looks like a very serious business man, minus the fact that his dark brown hair has a large streak of white flowing through it. Considering the age he looks, it seem fairly obvious that he did something like dye it himself.

The man looks at me and then the necklace I'm holding. "So there you are Silver. Why weren't you at our meeting point? No matter just hurry up and get in the limo" He grabs my arm and drags me into the limo taxi as I try to put two and two together in my head.

Before I sought everything out the vehicle has already started moving. Did I just get kidnapped while I was spacing out? "Hey where are you taking me?"

"Since it took me forever to find you we have to head to the summoning grounds immediately. We have no time to chat or make plans since you weren't at the destination yesterday."

"I think you have the wrong person. I have no idea as to who you are!" You just came out of nowhere and dragged me into the limo. And now, you are saying something that I just don't get.

"That's right. I forgot to introduce myself. You were contact through a friend of mine. I'm you client, Antony Corvis."

"And once again, I'll say it. I think you have the wrong person. And I haven't been hired by..." He's not even listening to me. He seems to be talking to someone over mobile, but I can't seem to see his mobile. Does he have an earpiece in the other ear? I guess I can wait for him to finish before I explain the situation.

I wait for a few minutes, but before my kidnapper, Antony had finished his call, the drive spoke up. We're here. You should hurry." The taxi pulls over and Anthony who seemed to have hanged up in an instant is dragging me out of the car and towards someone who looks like an official. And by the way, are we at some sort of stadium combined with a harbour. There is a large field, with seats half surrounding it, and in the grounds there were several people walking around. Another thing I noticed were the large amount of wooden manikins that were lain about. Attached to the stadium part was the docks, leading into the ocean. Only two small cruise boats were at port at the moment with another having just shipped off.

My kidnapper had dragged me over to the official looking individual and said slight out of breath, "Is Assassin still open?"

"The boat just left. All that remains are the small amount of people for Temptress and Trickster. Judging by the guy your dragging, your best bet if you aren't giving up is to head up to the boat on the right. They leave in minute so you better run."

Trickster, Temptress, aren't those the positions for the tournament thing that is being held here? Does that mean that this guy is trying to enter the event. I don't want to enter the event though. I just want to get to the hotel and tell everyone that I'm safe. _"...ld on."_ What was that? My arm was nearly yanked out of my socket as the man dragged me at a speed beyond what I thought was possible. My feet left the ground as I was pulled from behind the man like I was a kite trying to reach the sky.

The world blurred past me and before I knew it I came to an abrupt stop, involving me tumbling across the ground, a little effect of being let go at the last minute. My body hurts, bad. I'm scratched up and my mind is dazed. My head is filled with white, and I can barely make out the sound of speech coming from nearby me as I picked myself up. All of a sudden I feel a sharp pain on my right arm and feel a warm sensation on my arm. My mind takes a moment to catch up to me and I look at my arm. It's bleeding, blood flowing down my arm and trickling in drops from my fingers. In front of me stands my kidnapper, a bloodied knife in his hands.

"Holy hell, you just stabbed me!" I back up quickly and trip up falling on a different surface than I was standing on before. Did I just trip backwards onto a boat?

"Don't be such a pansy. It's not that much. I can heal that for you in a second." The man comes onto the boat and helps pick me up? He holds he hand over to my right arm and says something I don't recognize and before I know it a different burning sensation is felt on my arm. A quick look over and the wound has closed. Did I just witness a real case of magic?! I can't believe it. The stuff really exists. That's... that's... you know, I hope the rest is flashier really. How can they really challenge my life goal if all they can do is something so minuscule? No offence, healing a wound instantly is amazing, but if that is your pride, us stage magician shall continue with our jobs just fine. Unless that insane speed was magic as well. In that case, I might have some problems, but still. It doesn't look that I have too much to worry about the... Is he in intense pain?

"Hey are you all right?" The man is holding his arm tightly and is starting to look a little pale.

"It's fine, just the command spells coming into existence I think. Nothing to worry about."

And just then I notice. The boat is moving. The dock is already far away... When the hell did that happen!? I look over and see another boat alongside ours. A look over the passengers on the ship and for a second I think I see someone I recognize walking below deck. But then again, maybe not.

More importantly though. The boat is moving at insane speeds. Just these few seconds of hesitation have put the shore a large distance away from me. I can see the lights in the distance but not much else. Just how fast are these boats going?

My kidnapper, Anthony, apparently gotten over his pain has walked over to me. "Silver, things have gone off tangent. It seems that we are headed for the Trickster Island rather than Assassin like planned. We will just have to discuss strategy before we arrived. Though I must say, you are a lot younger than I expected Silver."

"My name's not Silver. My name is Leigh Everette, and I'm going to say this once again, you've gotten the wrong person."

"You're not Bastion Clarke? The brutal mercenary who I paid for?"

"Nope."

"But you have the necklace with my crest on it!"

"And I have no idea why I have it either. It was in the pocket of the vest I found."

"...Oh this is looking worse by the minute."

* * *

"You're just a kid that came here with your family?"

"Yep" We were currently sitting inside a small room inside the boat. I was currently trying to explain the situation, in the hopes of getting out of this mess.

"And the reason you are armed with throwing knives is...?"

"Ah, I'm a trainee stage magician. I found these knives being sold in a shopping centre here. I don't really like carrying around the whole case though. And since there are sheaths for the knives..."

"Hah. I needed a trained killer, not some kid who isn't even fully trained yet in his chosen profession. Can you even throw those knives properly?"

Think back on it, I had about a 2 out of 3 hit rate by the time I had left to get on the plane yesterday. I would say that's a decent improvement from basically nothing. "I've had some training. I can hit the target more than not. Why do you ask?"

The man in front of me rolled up the sleeve of his shirt on his left arm. He has a really large red tribal looking tattoo on his arm. "This is a command spell. It's a sign that I have become a proper Master in this war. Well, considering the circumstances, I'm still only in the preliminary stages. The problem is this. Once a Master Servant pair is formed, they must participate in a preliminary battle. If they don't, both are to be hunted down by Duwain's men."

"Well, thank god I'm not a Servant then." That's a really close call... wait a second.

"Actually, you technically are now. Once again, only a preliminary Servant, but one contracted with me." Oh. Well. This is great. I'm so screwed.

"When the hell did that happen?!" It wouldn't have been...

"When I took your blood earlier I formed a contract with you using the special incantation that was specified for a Human to Human, Servant summoning contract. I managed to get the information on it Yesterday. And since I was in a hurry and thought you the person I was looking for, I just went and performed the ritual."

"That quickly?"

"Yep. Though I have to ask, why didn't you struggle or say anything before we got to the boat?" Oh, I did. Oh, how I did.

"I tried several times! Your grip is like a clamp and you just were listening to me while I was trying to talk to me! You completely ignored my existence except to drag me behind you!" I get slightly emotional, but hey, this situation is looking not so good. I'm fairly sure Duwain mentioned that there could be death in this tournament. I don't want to die early. I've already had one close call on this Island. I'm not looking forward to a second one.

The man, no magus, who was talking to me gave a slight laugh and averted his eyes. Don't tell me that something like this happens with him from time to time. Was I just a unlucky case? Am I heading into dangerous territories just because this man made a mistake? "I can still run away, right?"

"Nope. This boat is fairly well guarded. And the homunculus are everywhere. You would never be able to escape."

"The homunculus? As in artificial humans?"

"Yes, you would probably recognize them as the albino individuals." Oh so that gives a slight explanation as to why everyone who works for Duwain is albino. But I thought that homunculi were impossible to make? Maybe that's what makes real magic so amazing?

Regardless, I've got work out my situation exactly. "So, I've got to participate in this preliminary round no matter what?"

"As much as I regret having to say this, yes"

"And we can't just surrender?"

"I really don't want to. On one side, I want the Holy Grail. On the other, I don't look forward to both of us losing a large portion of our nerves."

Ahaha... ha... "You're kidding... right?"

The man has a serious look in his eyes. His eyes almost pierce into my soul as he explains to me why. "The contract between us is carved into our magic circuits. In your case this would be the equivalent of your nerves, or life force channels in your body. Regardless, to forcibly end our contract outside of defeat, portions of them have to be remove. In my case, my left arm would become useless. In your case, well, you might become quadriplegic."

"It's that bad?" Don't nod at me like that! Are you telling me that I have to fight, possibly with the death with someone, just so I don't end up quadriplegic?! This is so not going my way.

"If we are being forced to participate however, the best we can do is work together. We will need to formulate a plan. Oh come on, don't look so depressed! If we manage to win, we will gain access to the illustrious Holy Grail, capable of granting any wish!"

"Is that thing even real?"

"It would be highly unlikely for it to be the real thing. However, we refer to any object capable of granting wishes a Holy Grail. There has only been one case I can think of off the top of my head where a Holy Grail other than the original has been officially recognized. And, if he has the servant summoning system in place, it rings true to the Holy Grail War in Japan."

"There was one of these in Japan? But I've never heard anything about that on the news, or the internet, or anywhere else for that matter!"

"The war in Japan was kept hidden unlike the one here. But several thing are similar, so I'm tempted to try and win. There is one thing that bothers me though."

"And that would be?"

"Even in the wars in Japan, no one has ever actually obtained the Grail. The participants have either died or abandoned the Grail before getting it"

"Doesn't that ring really bad for us?"

"And that is why we are going to make strategies before we arrive at the Island. We don't even need to win... I'm not one for involving innocents if I can, and as such I'll just aim to get us out of this alive. "

* * *

"Let me say this firmly, this battle between servants is highly dangerous. Traditionally the Servant does almost all the fighting. The magus is only there to support and command. Considering that you have no combat capability, we are going to have to alter the roles a bit. I need to know what talents you have if I'm to make our plans. I don't have proper access to your status yet so I'll just have to take what you can tell me."

"Status?" That sounds like an awfully RPGish term.

"Once one becomes a Master they are able to determine a Servant's strengths and skills by seeing them in action. In the case of the servant they are contracted with however they should be able to obtain such a thing by just by being with the servant. The only exception is when they are trying to hide things from their Master." Antony looks at me with an appraising eye.

"I'm not hiding anything from you, intentionally or otherwise. If you want a list of what I can do that could possibly be helpful I can say what I can think of, I guess. First and foremost is my skills as a stage magician. I'm by no means a professional yet, but I do hold pride in my skills. Next, I've always had a decent bout of luck. With the exception of the last two days, things normally are pleasant for me. Coming with that luck, I am decently fit. I'm not at the top of my class, but I do serve quite well as an all rounder. What else... I guess my deft hand movements? The ones I've honed as a magician. I'm still not as amazing as my d... my teacher." I'd rather not give out too much personal info to someone I just met, hence why I decided to quickly correct myself.

"That's it? No ace up the sleeve? Or some secret skill that can render you a threat of any kind? Everything I've heard from you is that others are better than you. Give me something I can work with here." The man sitting across from me is giving me a look like I'm useless.

I only have one thing left. I don't know how much use it could be, but I give it a go. "I can act rather well."

"Anyone can act. People act when they lie. People act when they want to make themselves look better in front of others. Just some simple acting isn't going to get us out of this easily." He gives a heavy sigh and starts to mull to himself.

"Now hold on. The only thing you shouldn't disapprove of is my acting. I may only be an apprentice magician, but my ability to put on personas and to bluff others is second to none that I know of!" Grandpa was a solid actor in his say, never a big shot, but rather someone who put on solo shows for others entertainment. I learnt from him how to put on acts, earlier than I learnt how to shuffle cards. Admittedly, I might have used it rather irresponsibly at times, but I take pride of my ability to grasp a hold of and sway the people I talk to.

"Well then if you think you can do that, maybe, I can give you some benefit of the doubt. But you are going to have to prove to me that you can actually put your skills where your mouth is. I want you to put on an appropriate Servant attitude for me now."

"Just to confirm, what the hell are Servants anyway?"

"Oh, right. You aren't from a magus background. Nor did you have a chance to read through the manual for this tournament."

"There's a manual?" Who would have figured? And where would you get a hold of that anyway?

"Indeed. I however, knew a fair bit about the subject already, so I skimmed through to search for the points I didn't know. Regardless, what you need to know about Servants is that they are a contracted individual that fights alongside their Master. Each Servant is given a Class, which indicates their role and capabilities. A normal Servant is a Legendary spirit, an entity that, for simplicities sake, is somewhat similar to a ghost. Rather than being a normal ghost however, after death they ascended to a near god like status due to their actions while they were alive. The most normal example would be a hero like, say, King Arthur. His actions are well known as a King and as a Hero. After death he reached what is known as the Throne of Heroes, a place outside of the cycle of reincarnation as a reward for what he did."

"Of course it would be more accurate to say that rather than as a reward, he was forced there due to everyone's acceptance of him as a hero. You don't have to worry about stuff like that though. What is important here is that a Servant is an important figure like this summoned to serve as a familiar for the Master. Don't compare them to things like frogs, black cats or owls. They'll kill you for that. Even as a familiar they still hold same the pride they did as a hero."

"Wait, I have to fight heroes!? I'm fairly sure I can't deal with that kind of thing!"

"Normally you wouldn't but the steps of the Servant summoning gives you a small opening. Servants are amazing beings that can't be summoned even with the best rituals. The trick that the Servant summoning ritual uses is to summon them in a template of a Class, supplying them with a container for their existence simultaneously. This limits what they can do, but allows for possible summoning. And in this battle, they are restricted even more. At the moment, all the legendary figures are contained in Effigy's, the wooden manikins that you might of glanced at earlier. These are used to ease in the summoning, but in this state their power is vastly diminished. Also, since they are famous figures it is easy to work out their weaknesses once you know who they are. This whole War is a battle where you try to hide both the Servants and your own identity while trying to defeat your opponent. And since no one should know who you are..."

"I have a slight hope of victory?"

"Note, slight. The best we can hope for is not being killed. Since their powers are still sealed and they are only recently summoned, we should be able to do something. Though, come to think of it, we are trying to participate for the Trickster Class. The servants shouldn't have too much fire-power. It should be all tactics and cunning. Even if we lose we shouldn't die. Anyway, I've explained Servant's to you, so it's time to put on your act. I'll even make it easier for you and give you this mask. That should help isolate you from your normal self. So please try to impress me."

Oh, you are coming off so cocky. Fine, I'll take the mask. It's a simple porcelain-looking mask. There are no markings on it at all. But more importantly, "Where the hell did you pull this from?"

"I shaped it from some pages of the book I was reading earlier. Though it's made from the pages it should be as hard as steel if not more so. It should help set the mood." You what? What book? I don't see a book on you. And I don't see any pockets big enough to hold this mask either... You know what... It's magic. I'll just leave it at that. I know better than to pry.

I put on the mask and instantly start to rewrite my identity into what I imagine a Servant of the Trickster Class should be. And re-written. I lean back into my chair and look at my Master. "You know Master, rather than being so worried about what I can and can't do, shouldn't you be worried about what our opponents can do? You just find that out, and I'll take care of all of our problems for us."

"That's actually not that bad of an idea. I'll go out to scout, you do what you need to do to prepare. Oh, and if you continue to act like that I might be able to pull something off. You pass, for now"

Master goes to walk out of the room, but right before he closes the door behind him I say nonchalantly, "Of course, who do you think you're talking to. I'm the Servant Trickster. I'll give you your wish as per our contract, don't you worry about that."

As my master leaves the room, I stop to think about my next course of action. If I am going to win the upcoming battles for my contractor I need to eliminate all possibilities of me losing. And I need to think ahead too. The homunculus on this boat should know a thing or two about magic. I should ask around and see if I can't finish setting up before Master finishes looking around.

* * *

After a little looking around, and some asking around the officials I managed to get what I needed. First on my to do list was to alter my appearance slightly. I would have asked Master should I be unable to obtain it otherwise, but thankfully I met an official who could help me. I am however rather distrusting of him. He is the first official I have met who wasn't albino like the rest of them. He was most definitely an official, however the way he held himself to the way the look was different. His hair was darker than even my own, and his eyes were a deep shade of green. He wore a red and black suit and wore a most ridiculous jester hat on his head, bells and all. It was obvious however, by the way that he was talking to the homunculus that he was in charge.

Even as suspicious as I was, information is a valuable commodity, and if I failed to get what I wanted from him that would be a shame to my Master, and to myself. I head on over to the man and greeted him in the most respectful way I could. It is best to get someone on good terms and to emphasize their position over you. People let things slide that way. "Ah, it is a fine evening isn't it. I am one of the Servants participating in this event, and I was wondering if I could ask a question? By your appearance you seem to be the one in charge, am I right?"

"That's right, I'm Jester, an apt name to go with a reason to be forced to wear the hat. I'm in charge of everything that goes on Trickster Island. And the boat ride there. There is still some time until we arrive and I'm not too busy. Go ahead with your question." The man leans against the wall and pulls out a fresh deck of cards. He opens the decks and begins to shuffle the cards in front of me. Do I sense a kindred spirit?

"Ah, yes. Unlike the case with the Effigy's, my identity is quite obvious to others at the very beginning. I have this mask, but it isn't just the face that people can recognize. Colour and style of hair, choices of clothing, even the way one holds themselves. I won't say that I'm well known, but I'd rather that Master doesn't have trouble because someone knows who I am and how to exploit it."

"Of course. You've thought deeply into this. Indeed, having your identity hidden should serve to protect yourself from other masters. Hiding yourself even from me is a smart choice too. We have the resources on this boat, so if you want to I can direct you to where you want to go."After shuffling the deck in a very smooth manner, the man, Jester looks at the top 4 cards, before putting the deck off to the side into a bin. A very interesting attitude towards the cards. Also one I don't exactly appreciate. Regardless, I am not here to cause problems. Any trouble I cause is Masters trouble as well.

"Please point me in the right direction."

"Head down the hallway and turn left at the corner. The first door on your right is a special dressing room that I personally use. My stylist should still be in there. Tell her that Jester sent you and she'll set you up right away. Also, don't worry about the time it'll take. She's trained to be very quick at what she does, the only problem is that she has horrible taste in shoes.."

"Thank you." I bow to him and walk off in the direction he pointed in. I keep my senses locked on him though. Something about that man just feels strange to me. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a homunculus as well, even if he doesn't look it a first glance.

"Good luck. I look forward to seeing your attempt at the challenge ahead. But one last thing before you go, don't go causing trouble. One of the competitors on this ship has already lost the right to participate. I don't want to have to resort to violence again."

I walk off, ominous words behind me.

* * *

15 minutes later I leave from the room, sufficiently changed from what I was like before. My hair is now a glamorous blond. The speed at which the dye worked at is beyond what I expected. I've also slipped out of my Servant persona now. I do have the mask on still however. The mask now has more features to it, giving it more distinction. The left half of the mask is completely black except for a few pattern like lines of white going through it. There is virtually a line right down the middle, separating the white from the black. I've kept my shirt and vest as I've only just received them myself. I've gotten a brand new pair of pants to go with them now. The material is quite soft, but more importantly it is made so that I can still move my legs smoothly even though I'm wearing long pants. My belt is the same as always though. I've also swapped out my shoes, after a bit of trial and error by the homunculus stylist. She kept bringing individual shoes that were of all wacky styles before bringing the respectable pair that I'm now wearing. I still have my old gloves though. I've worn them in quite nicely, and this pair just feels perfect on me. I don't want to change them now.

I walk back to where I last saw Antony, the soundproof room we were in. Along the way however I bump into someone I don't recognize. He's wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He also has sunglasses that he is resting on the top of his head.

The man looks at me funnily and starts laughing. "Hahaha, what kind of freak are you?! Don't tell me you're participating in the thing too?"

"So what if I am?" I'm instantly on edge with this guy. He's insulted my outfit, as well as announcing his intent to participate in the Holy Grail War. In other words he's my opponent.

"Are you a Master or a Servant like me? You better be a servant, I think it would be a sweet deal to take down some joker like you."

"The answer is the second, but I don't like the fact you've considered yourself instantly superior to me."

"Of course I'm superior. I'm made for this kind of stuff. I'm the kind of man who can graffiti up an entire building and still escape from the cops, leaving them in the dust. You've got nothing on me. And those dolls, ha! It takes actually brains if you want to even lick my feet. But still, it's just like me to get hired by some rich kid to win this game for him. I'm rolling in money right now. Say, I'll give you enough for you to pay for the plane trip home, you're going to need it before the sun even rises." The criminal wannabe walks off laughing after dropping a large amount of coins I don't recognize on the ground.

I pick one up to have a look. Each coins says 1000 odo on it. This type of money again. Actually, now that I think about it. I have none of the currency for this place. I pocket the coins and then ask just what the conversion price is for the currency here. The attendant I asked gave me a rough estimate. I was holding about 10 thousand dollars worth of coins in my hands... oh my god. This is the most money I've ever had. And it's just coins. Actually, does the currency here even involve notes? I'm not sure, but I should head back to the room and wait for Antony for now.

* * *

Out of all of the islands, the Trickster Island had both the lowest number of competitors, and the lowest number of viewers in the stadium set up for the preliminaries. Each stadium was to hold upwards of 100000 people but no more than a fifth of that actually sat in the stands. Regardless, they sat in the stands waiting for the show they have been promised. Looking down into the arena they could see a peculiar sight. Rather than a flat field like is normally in a stadium, the area was filled with obstacles like rocks and trees. This discrepancy raised the tension and excitement as midnight struck.

Rather than having a tolling of bells, like the new year's celebrations the stroke of midnight was met by a small bout of impressive fireworks. While everyone's attention was drawn to the sky a single man had made his way into the arena. "Greetings, those who came here seeking a show. I am the host and caretaker of this island, Jester. I am sure that by now you have realised, with the sound coming from beneath you, that each seat has a small interactive screen with you to watch the proceeding with. The main content will be seen on the large screens above, but should you wish to see a view from a certain camera, please feel free to use these screens. Each screen also has a small attached set of headphones to help drown out the other noises."

"For whatever reason you may be here, from enjoying mind games, to being unable to get a seat in the Saber arena, I will greet you kindly. Thank you for coming to my domain." The crowd watched as the announcer made his way to the centre of the arena, where a large table was set up. The man sat down and pulled out a deck of cards. "The Class of Trickster, is one that is both new, and unappreciated. People believe that all that matters in a Hero is his ability to fight. I say nay. In many of the great battles of history, the actions of a Hero may be recorded in the annuls, but the true worth of armies could be found in the tactics and cunning of those leading them. The Trickster is one with the ability to use their mind and assets on hand to path their way to victory."

Some members of the crowd listened in intently, others leaned back in their chairs waiting for some action. The man who announced however, pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled them while talking. "What you will see here is a battle of both wits and brawn. Both the Servant and Master will compete against others to gain the opportunity to battle as Trickster. We in this arena have the least number of contestants, but I will declare this now. You will not be disappointed! The battle will be intense! And most certainly, it will be entertaining! Allow me to introduce to you the Master's who will participate in the preliminaries here."

On each of the large screens, as well as the smaller ones in possession of the audience, the screen change to show the picture of a man with blond hair wearing sunglasses. "First Master vying for the position in the battle is Alexander Volkanov. Age: 23 years old, but he is already a successful business man. For the preliminary he will be using a human Servant. Please note that the names of the Servants will not be released. This is to ensure smooth running for them should they be victorious. Knowledge is half the battle in this war after all."

The screens then changed to show the man who would serve as Leigh's Master. "Next is Antony Corvis. Age: 22, a prominent Librarian keeping a hold of valuable documents from around the world. He also possesses a human Servant. These two are the two Masters who are using humans for this battle. The next three are using the traditional Legendary Spirits as their servants so expect some big names should you ever get the chance to hear them."

The screens once again changed to show an elderly man who had almost gone bald. "Next is Elroy Amerist, coming to participate even at a whopping age of 83. He has been retired for the last 10 years after a successful life, but still he comes here pursuing his dreams. Give him props for that people."

The screens then changed to show an Asian man with his hair in a ponytail. "Second last is Yamato Hoshimoto, aged at 32 years old. He's a man with both skill in magic and martial arts making him a reliable bet."

For the last time the picture changed to show another individual, a female this time. But not just a regular female, she was albino, just like the staff on this Island. "Finally, we have a representative from this Island, Altrea. Now, I know what you're thinking folks. Someone who helped set up the event shouldn't have the right to participate. However, we have entered members to ensure that there was a Master and Servant pair for each Class. Also, it gives more spice to the battles. However to ensure that the other contestants can agree with her participation, we will tell everyone her Servant's name. Now pay attention for here it goes. Till Eulenspiegel, the famous prankster from Germany. To those from Germany, I'll say this, I'm just as surprised as you that this man was able to be summoned as a Servant, to walk the Earth in this day and age. But he is here folks, as you'll see soon enough."

"Now, if you'll turn your attention to the arena, you'll notice that the area is filled with trees and rocks. This place will serve as a battleground of wits and skill. I'm sure that most of you are knowledgeable about poker. 5 card hands, and the combination of cards you get decide who wins. In the Trickster Arena, we are going to play poker, with a twist." In front of the Audience, the host pulls out a lighter and starts to burn his cards, before looking at the audience again. "The rules are both simple and complicated simultaneously, so I'll clarify them for both you and the contestants themselves. They can hear me as I speak now, just like you all."

"Rule number 1: You will play Poker using 5 card hands. You will be using these cards and only these cards to determine victory."

"Rule number 2: You will make up your hand from cards taken from the environment. The master and the Servant share a hand. The cards will be hidden around the arena in the beginning of game. Only one deck will be used to do this."

"Rule number 3: There will be a time limit of 5 minutes for the Master Servant team to build a hand of 5 cards. If you do not have at least 5 cards after 5 minutes you will fold and instantly lose the round."

"Rule number 4: You will play poker using the cards that we will give you. Using cards in your hand other than ones from the deck we supply counts as an instant loss for the round."

"Rule number 5: The person who wins the round is allowed to attack the other members at will for 5 minutes. Disabling the Master or defeating their Servant removes that team. We will also supply a special knife capable of immobilizing the Servants. This knife will only work on the currently weaker Servants. It will not work on a fully recognized Servant. You may also use any other weapon you bring into the arena with you."

"Rule number 6: You are not allowed to attack another contestant if you have lost a round. You are however allowed to defend yourself. You may block or dodge blows, but no striking back."

"Rule number 7: Any cards in your possession after a round ends are allowed to be hidden in destinations of your choosing. They must however, be at least 5 meters apart from each other. There is another 5 minute grace period to do this. Any cards from an opponent you defeat go to you to hide"

"Rule number 8: There will be 3 Jokers spread around the area. The Joker does not go into the hand, but is instead used to avoid being targeted in case of a defeat in the game of poker. Simply show the Joker to me, the host and you will not be allowed to be harmed during the 5 minutes the winner can hunt foes. After use, the Joker will be destroyed."

"Rule number 9: Upon eliminating every other team you will be recognized at the Servant Trickster and their Master for the Holy Grail War."

"Rule number 10: All Master and Servant pairs must participate until they are defeated. Oh, and they must enjoy participating as well. Pairs that attempt to flee will be dealt with accordingly"

As the announcer finished announcing the rules, the last card burned into ash. The announcer blew the ash off the table in the centre and looked up at the audience. "There will be a 1 hour period of time for the Masters to plan what they seek to do. The betting booths will be open if you wish to visit. Food can be bought from the stands at the west entrance. Also, the interactive screens have games on them if you wish to wait that way. I know you may be impatient, however this small wait shall give work to a masterpiece. Thank you for understanding."

The man turned an went to walk out of the arena, but both he and the audience noted a stranger who had entered the arena. He wore a purple shirt and a silver vest. He had blond hair and wore pure white gloves. But more than that, everyone noted the fact that he wore a strange mask, a clear divider between the white right half and the black left side, except for the slight white pattern in the black side. He walked straight over to Jester and spoke in a voice that wedged itself into those who listened.

"You are a gambler are you not, Jester?" The masked individual asked the announcer with obvious confidence in his question. To the audience, it almost sounded like he was asking a rhetorical question.

"A keen eye, what gave it away?" Both people in the centre of the arena were looking at each other as if gauging the others reaction.

"The fact that you keep disposing of the cards. It is a habit that proper dealers at casinos should have. It also belongs to those who don't like people cheating when they gamble. By disposing of a deck after use and opening a new one straight away it prevents people from marking the cards. A good way to keep the playing ground square."

"Well, read. But still, shouldn't you be with your Master, rather than here asking such a question when it looks like you already knew the answer?"

The masked Servant waved his hand out towards the audience. "I know that you have provided minor forms of entertainment for the people here, but still I believe that having them wait for an hour is a bit excessive. Hence, I'm willing to leave the planning to master while I offer up some small entertainment to the audience. What say you to some games of poker? I have 103 coins on me, all 1000 odo apiece. What say we play a betting game to give the audience some well deserved entertainment of a kind, even if it is only to tide them over before the main event. It'll even give them a chance to understand how poker games are really meant to work, of particular note if they haven't played it before."

The host, Jester, gave out a loud laugh. "You have my undivided attention but we'll need a few more than just two to play some poker."

To this the masked Servant gave a slight chuckle. "But we have plenty, just look to the stands. I'm sure we could find a couple of players."

* * *

It took only a few minutes for the masked Servant to round up some extra players from the audience. He also confirmed their willingness to play in front of the audience. As such, five people sat at the table, and a fresh deck of cards was revealed to play with.

The members of the audience who had decided to join were a woman wearing a business suit, a man who wore a plain red T-shirt and has a pair of sunglasses resting on his head, even though it was just past midnight, and a man with shaggy hair who held an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

The people in the arena watched as the men and woman played cards, some more intently than others. The game managed to last for 50 minutes, only ending after the host, Jester, had taken every last piece of money. To the audience, his luck with cards seemed amazing as he one almost every game. The Servant however, he had only managed to win a single game, and in the end was the first to be eliminated.

The Servant had sat around and watched the rest play the games calmly and silently. However, due to his early defeat he had lost most of what little faith in his victory that people might have had for him. They predicted his loss, and even the betting brackets for him changed. In the end, only a single person had even bet on him by the time the card game ended.

What happened after the game however sparked an interest for the audience. As the Servant sat at the table one of the Albino members of staff brought in something akin to a small oil lantern. It was decorated rather fancily, and it's lit flame danced around, even in the light of the arena. Even the screens in the arena displayed the flame as it drew closer to the table in the centre.

Jester took the small lantern of the staff member's hands and rested it on the table. He quickly opened the hatch on the side and tossed the deck that was just used inside. The flames flared mysteriously and consumed the deck in an instant. He looked up towards the audience as only a few minutes remained until the true event. "What is here, is a flame. As you may have seen, it eliminated the cards in an instant. That, is due to it being a flame rather unlike what you have seen before. This flame is fake, yet still it burns brilliantly. A fake flame? What madness does this Joker think he is talking about?"

The audience looked down at him and he announced what would be to someone, the start of everything. "This flame, is a replication of the fire that Prometheus gave to man. Prometheus is quite possibly the most well known trickster known in history. His act of giving fire to Humans and his punishment are well known facets of this world today. As such, we are using this flame as the spark to turn one into a true Servant of the Trickster Class. The flame here is weak, but that is because the other four participants have already accepted it's warmth. The last part shall be given to the masked Servant here, and with it, he shall become someone greater. His goal will be to take the flame from the others, until the stage that he becomes the true Trickster. But first, he must accept the flame."

The few people who were still returning to their seats stopped and looked down, waiting to see what would happen.

The masked Servant looked over to the host and simply asked "I'm ready to accept the flame, I must merely know how."

Jester held the hatch on the side of the lantern open and said to the servant, "Hold your bare hand to the direct flame. Then, if you are worthy of the role, you will be accepted."

The Servant took of his right glove and held his hand out. He didn't even hesitate before placing his hand in the fire. He winced in pain, but soon the flame was no more. With a small congratulations Jester started to clap and the rest of the people in the arena followed suit, most likely just because Jester was clapping, not really understanding fully. Even the person who had found victory in their preliminaries in 15 minutes was clapping. A single fully fledged Servant sat in the arena and watched the upcoming events, looking to find if the winner would become a threat.

* * *

My Master is incredibly angry when I return. I guess he has a good enough reason to be. I completely avoided him for the hour preparation time that we had. I believe that spending our time closed up in a room is a pointless idea. Instead I went and did a few things, like scouting out the battle arena.

And, to make things even more pointless, our plan is horrendously simple. Since our plan is to escape from the preliminaries rather than to achieve victory, the plan is very basic. According to Master, since I'm in possession of a flesh and blood body from the beginning my body won't disappear when I'm defeated. Apparently a normally defeated Servant will fade away, returning their memories to that place outside of the cycle of reincarnation as Master called it, the Throne of Heroes. Their body is temporary container for their existence and become unnecessary when they return. Hence, to body fades. The fact that mine doesn't is what our plan is based on.

During the preliminaries I'm to take a near fatal blow, something that could actually occur due to the style of our preliminary. If I can, I just have to make it look as real as possible, throwing my body on the line. Then, faking death, I would be carried off for proper... disposal. At the moment, Master will use his magic to quickly create both a distraction and a duplicate of me, allowing me to successfully escape. A simple trick, but sometimes the easiest will be the most effective.

Regardless, it doesn't stop the fact that Master is berating me again. I know that I'm just an unfortunate case that ruined your chances for the grail, but I am truly thankful that my Master, no matter how short we will be together for, was you.

* * *

I enter the arena for the second time, this time accompanied by the man who serves as my Master. However, we aren't the only ones entering either. The other Servant and Master teams are entering as well, and the first thing for me to note is that the appearance of the wooden manikins has been replaced. The people walking in are human, no fellow Servants. I can sort of feel the same burning feeling in my chest emanating from them as well.

I recognize the other human Servant that I saw on the boat. His arrogance seems to have taken a new level and he is quite literally strutting into the arena alongside his Master.

The other three Servants are what interest me though. I'd already heard the name Till Eulenspiegel and looking at him he looked very much like the traditional jester that one would imagine. He carried himself with a light step and held a rather whimsical air. Actually looking at it now, Jester had removed his hat as Till Eulenspiegel entered the arena. Maybe he really doesn't like wearing that thing...

The next Servant I see is the one belonging to the Asian man, Yamato. No, see is such a week term here. I can feel him. He should only have a fifth of completed power of the Trickster, and yet, I already feel the aura he possesses. As he draws closer his aura seems to smother the area. He's Asian just like his master but possesses a thick beard, stands about 7 feet tall and holds what might be a sword wrapped in cloth. His clothes look very regal, and the very way he walks seems to hold that trait as well. I'm not too familiar with Asian heroes, but I guess he's from the romance of the three kingdom's... well admittedly that is the only source of Asian heroes I can think of.

The last Servant to enter the arena was the one belonging to that old man, Elroy. The Servant is pushing the old man's wheelchair into the arena. The servant himself had two items tied to his pouch, a sword on the left side, and a decently large bag, made of hemp, of a similar material. Also, judging by his robed appearance, he would probably be from either Rome or Greece. He seems rather carefree, but I do catch him taking a quick glance at everyone, as if to instantly evaluate the situation.

As I get closer to the table in the centre I notice a difference. There are currently 10 chairs sitting at the table. 5 stool like chairs directly alongside the table. 4 comfortable looking armchairs sitting behind a stool except for one. And finally, a large, throne like chair that Jester currently sat in.

Jester looked at all of us as we came to the table. "Please, take a seat at your designated area. The Servants will take a stool and the Master will sit behind. To make things more convenient on Elroy, you have been left an open space for you to move your wheelchair in. Please, all of you, take your seats for the start of this."

One of the stools had 'Corvis' written on it. I sat at this stool, just like the other Servants sat at the ones with their Masters name. Master sat behind me in the armchair. Once everyone was ready, we looked up at Jester, who was sitting slightly higher than us thanks to his throne.

Jester in return, looked down to us and proclaimed. "The preliminaries for the Trickster position starts now." Jester pulls out a small hourglass which he rests on the arm of his throne. "The first round will begin when the last grain of sand hits the bottom. Dash around the arena to make you hands. You are to immediately return when you hear the bell. From there you will reveal your cards here at the table. A 10 second grace period will occur before the winner is allowed to attack the others. As mentioned before, you have five minutes to attack the enemy. A bell will ring out signalling the end of that as well. Attacking after the bell will not be tolerated. Other than that, everything is 'fair' game. Good luck."

We sat there, tension in the air as we waited for the hourglass to run dry. The plan requires me to act like I'm trying to win, so I'm going to have to go all out. I'll still have to get attacked in the end though. But this is for my survival. Risks are going to be taken. But for now, I have to get the cards in three... two... and... dash!

* * *

Five minutes is far too short for this! Magical traps lie all across the arena, a small forest covered in vines impedes progress, several areas literally have pitfalls, and there is even what is right before me, a giant multiple choice quiz on the side of a billboard.

My Master is standing right beside me and is quickly analysing it. "Yep, there is indeed a card on the other side of this thing. In that case if I just put in the answer... and solved." Master touched one of the choices, I have no idea what, I don't read whatever language it was using. A small compartment opened at his choice and he pulled out a card, the ace of spades.

This is our second card after the seven of diamonds we found earlier hidden up a tree. We are still far from having a full hand though, let alone something that can be used. A quick look at the obnoxiously large clock on the side of the arena shows that we only have a little over a minute left. "Master, I'm splitting off to try and find another card. We might have to just forfeit this round, but the Ace will be helpful. Just keep it safe."

I dash off towards a large clump of rocks, quickly scaling to the top. I've gotten a little faster ever since I absorbed the warmth from the flame earlier. I also feel rather light, something I'm rather happy about. I can just bolt up the rocks like it is nothing and it doesn't really irk me at all. If I'm like this, then just what would a fully capable servant be like? I am most definitely not looking forward to seeing one of them up close. Thankfully, I shouldn't have to.

I quickly look around and spot another card. It is of the same style as the cards I was playing poker with earlier. I jump from rock to rock and grab a hold of the strangely floating and swaying card. A quick look shows it to be another seven, this time of clubs.

I quickly look around for another card, but the sound of a large bell interrupts me. A quick look at the clock shows me that time is indeed up so I head back to the centre of the arena. I jog back to meet my Master, who has already taken a seat. I sit before him, and look across at the Servant or the old man Elroy. Judging by the look on his face he hadn't managed to find a full hand yet either. This first round is probably just going to be all of us folding.

I look back at my Master and motion to him as to if he found another card. A light shake of the head is my answer. Well, it still looks good from where I sit. We already have a pair and an ace. We can easily build upon it later.

Once everyone was seated, Yamato and his Servant being last, Jester started to speak. "It is the first round. Anyone who wishes to fold say so now. Those who wish to play their hand, put your five cards on the table."

"We fold" These words instantly come from the old man Elroy. My Master follows up shortly after, followed by the homunculus Altrea and Alexander. Yamato however puts five cards down on the table. Five already! Is this due to luck or skill? I tense myself up in my chair. Yamato's Servant sits to the side of me and gives me a slight grin. This is looking really bad. He is already reaching for the sword.

Jester looks over at the cards on the table and says "Reveal your cards." Using his spare hand, the Servant flips the cards over, revealing 3 kings, of spades, hearts and diamonds, a 5 of spades and a 2 of diamonds. He has three kings already... this isn't looking good. "The first round goes to Yamato! Let the fight begin!"

A bell rings out as everyone breaks away from the table. I dodge to the side getting out of the way as the clothes flies away revealing a strange blade. It is made entirely of the same material, right from the tip of the blade to the bottom of the hilt. The Servant swings it once and a shock wave billows forth, flying away from the table and smashing into a nearby tree, cutting it clean in two.

What the hell kind of power is that? That thing could easily cleave a man in two! I scramble away, grabbing a hold of Master and pulling him with me. I feel something behind me and I jump to the right yanking Master with me. Another Shockwave passed by, tearing up the ground where I was just an millisecond ago. Master regains his composure in an instant and pulls a book out of his sleeve. The pages billow out and burst in large bangs, putting a large a wall of fire between us and the attacking Servant. Master and I instantly put some distance between us and make our way into the trees.

We make our way inside and Master pulls the remaining few pages from the book and puts them on the trees around us. "This is a quick barrier to hide our presence. This should hide us for a little while, but still, what kind of Servant pulls out their Noble Phantasm right away?"

"What's a Noble Phantasm?" This wasn't brought up during our talks about Servant's earlier so I have no idea what he's talking about.

"Every Servant normally has something that identifies with him. Like King Arthur has the sword Excalibur, or Saint George had Ascalon, or even how Bellerophon had Pegasus as his steed. When they are summoned as a Servant these manifest as well. They hold tremendous power and potential, just like you saw then. Normally they take massive amounts of Prana to use though. He shouldn't be able to just swing that thing around and sends shock waves at us. Also, we can use it to identify him if we can."

"Because it serves as a symbol of who he was as a hero?"

"Indeed. However, we don't have enough to work out what that is. The sword is peculiar but I don't know enough about Asian mythology to instantly know what that sword is. All I know is that..."

"Alexander Volkanov and his Servant have been defeated!" Jester's voice rings out, telling us that someone has already been defeated.

"Already? It's only the first round and someone is already taken down. I never liked his Servant, but still, he held pride in himself, would he really get taken down that easily?"

Master looks over at me and gives me an answer, "That is the power of a Noble Phantasm. They are both the Servants greatest strength and greatest weakness. Using them can turn the tide of battle, but if the opponent works out who the Servant is they can exploit that."

"Altrea and her Servant Till Eulenspiegel have been defeated!"

"Again! What the hell is going on out there?!" I can hear the sounds of what could be explosions and blades colliding. Master and I huddle up in our barrier until we hear the bell signalling the end of the battle.

* * *

I am hiding our three cards alone. Master has gone off to talk to Elroy. The old man managed to survive the round together with his Servant. Master wants to use these five minutes to discuss tactics with them. The power of Yamato's Servant is apparent to all. I know as a fact that I have no chance defeating him in straight up combat. This isn't the Saber preliminaries however. This game will be won through tactics and tricks. And I have something up my sleeve, literally. The knife that was supplied for the fight was taken by me as soon as we got back to the table.

Feeling the cool touch of metal against my skin I hide the cards in the places we originally found them, with exception of the Ace. That is hidden underground in a small rabbit hole in the ground that I found in the area with the trees. I found it by complete accident earlier and I only found it again because I knew it was there.

With all cards hidden I waited for the start of the new round. I heard Jesters voice once again, and I tensed in retaliation. "The second round is about to start. Yamato has a large lead, holding three out of five pieces of the Promethean fire. His Servant is much stronger now for it. Also, last rounds collecting of the cards was perfect as well. They are now the crowd favourite to win. Still, it is anyone's game in the Trickster Arena. The next round will now start with the bell."

I hear the bell ring out and I charge straight back to hiding places of the cards. Master will look for his separately from me. Hopefully we find enough to... Is that a Joker? I see in the trees a small card stuck straight to a tree. There is not just a Joker either. There are another Ace, of hearts this time as well as a ten of Spades. They are just lying in plain sight. I sneak up to them and carefully remove the ten, dodging aside instantly. Nothing happened. Curious, I took the Ace. Once again, nothing happened. I take more looks around and can find nothing wrong in the area. I feel a little exited and energetic as I take the last card and sprint away.

I've gotten three cards, and a one is a Joker. We now have two pairs and a Joker. This is going well for us. And it was fairly easy to find as well. Lucky me. I took too long however, getting those cards. The bells toll stop me from finding any others.

I head back to the table and meet up with Master. He is with Elroy and his Servant. It seems they spent the searching section together as well. My Master meets me with some good news. "They have agreed to help you escape from here. In return we are to help them win the preliminaries."

"Master, you have my full support. First things first though. I got several helpful cards in my search. Did you find any that would be of use for us?"

"Just another seven. With this we should have three of a kind, correct?" Oh, oh, oh. This could get interesting.

"Master. We have a full house. Once of the best hands in the game of poker. I found another Ace in my search, as well as a Joker. We shouldn't need it though. We should win this round easily." This round should be ours. And with the knife I currently have, we can stop the super strong Servant.

"Good Job. Do you still have the Knife?" I give master a light nod. "Then when we win, go to attack him immediately. I will use magic to support you. I regret having to rely on you to do this, but in your current state you should be stronger physically than I am. Not to mention that alone I am no match for a Servant. I will dedicate everything I can to getting you through this, so please, attack him with everything you can. If we can stop him, then you can get out of here safely."

"Master, I said it before didn't I. Just leave it all to me."

We sit down at the table again. And once again the last to arrive is Yamato and his Servant. Once they sit down Jester starts announcing again. "Once again, I'll ask you to fold now, or to put down your hand face-down on the table."

No one says fold this time. I put down my cards and watch the other two Servants to do the same. At this Jester speaks again. "Since everyone has bet, lets spice things up a bit. Everyone is confident in their hand. However, just how confident are you really? You see, I lied when I said that all three Jokers in the deck would be hidden. I've actually have one on me now. I you decide to fold now, I will give the first person the Joker, after the end of this round. If no one folds, then I'll give the winner the Joker. What do you say? Take your time. Talk it out amongst each other."

What a kind way to stir up this game. I have a full house. I have a Joker regardless. I'm fairly confident in myself. But looking at their eyes. The powerful servant right beside me sits in absolute confidence in himself. But the one across from me, he looks hesitant. He looks me in the eyes, gauging my reaction. I give him a nod and try to convey my message through the eyes.

"I fold." The Servant across from me folds, leaving just me and the Servant beside me. Folding has become pointless for the other. If we fold we will just get attacked by the other regardless of our hands. We glare each other in the eyes and motion for Jester to continue.

"Reveal your hands." At that both me and the Servant beside me flip our cards and the Bell rings instantly. My knife is in my hand. A full house versus four kings. It's in my favour. I dive forward before anyone but me can react. He launches himself aside as my blade aims for him. My blade just misses the tip of his cheek.

There must be no hesitation on my part. I saw the state of the other two Servants who were defeated earlier. The Servant who spoke to me on the Ship is dead. Sliced cleanly in two. The Servant had faded away, but the Master, the homunculus Altrea, was covered in blood and her eyes were blank. This thing in front of me is willing to calmly kill me. _I must be willing to do the same_. I swing my blade at his chest, and as he steps back, change my hold on the blade and step forward, changing the swing into a stab.

My target leaps back greatly, having not even drawn his sword yet. He has some distance. I quickly pull a knife from my belt and toss it at the Master, Yamato. Like a true Martial Artist he steps aside dodging it instantly, leaving the blade to stick into a sign behind him. That won't stop me though. I charge forward, putting all my new speed into my movement. I hold the special knife in my right hand and another throwing knife in my left. I stab and swing the blades around trying to strike my target. The man before me shouldn't be as strong as the Servant. This is the best...

The Servant is before my eyes again blade drawn. He charges forward to intercept my blows. Yet this isn't the only thing I perceive. I can hear master call out to me. "Hold your knives out!" I follow his instructions instantly, and I can see pages sticking to the blades of the knives. The shimmer and change colour eventually changing in such a way that it seems to have extended the knives into what could be small swords. I have no experience in the use of swordsmanship so I just use them as to what feels natural.

The enemy Servant is blocking all my blows, but I can see him being wary about the sword in my right hand. As a knife it was meant to disable a Servant, and it is possible it could still use fulfil its purpose. I see out of the corner of my eye Master doing something in the background, pulling books out of seemingly nowhere and sending pages over in my direction. They land all over my body but I can't really feel as to what they are meant to be doing. Even more pages flew over and started to latch onto the enemy Servant.

The pages covered his hands and arms, and even tried to reach his face. His movements stop and I see an opportunity. I charge forward and go to stab the right sword straight into my enemy. Yamato intercepts me and knocks the blade aside with his bare hands. In retaliation I strike with my other blade and manage to draw blood, but only just, from his right leg. He leaps back and I see that the Servant has already freed himself from the pages. The tactics between these two in a fight is quite good. Enough that I'll just have to yank on the thread I'm holding. Thanks to Master's help I managed to attach invisible thread to my knives. As such, with a quick pull I can yank it out and attack from another angle.

My enemies dodges my sudden strike with the throwing knife, but I throw my left sword into the mix, tossing it at chest height. The Servant blocks my thrown sword and in that slight moment I Have my other sword at his chest! I push everything forward and feel my blade strike... solid...air. The Servant side stepped me and after over extending myself I find myself tripping over and sprawling on the ground.

He is just far too superior to me with the sword. I have no formal training, the only real sword I've even seen is his... Mine is about the same length as his.. so why can't I just use his style? I stand back up, gripping my single sword cleanly in my hand, adjust my hands to match his. Adjust my stance. Adjust my attitude. Erase opposing elements. Become my opponent.

I stand before a mirror of myself and charge forward, performing the same swing that I've performed so many times before. Of course, my mirror blocks just like I would be capable of. I spin and strike, forcing him to brace slightly. Because my mirror is not allowed to attack at the moment I can go for more powerful stokes rather to light quick strikes. Yet still, in order to hit my mirror I must use them as well. Strike, and step forward, leading into a thrust. Grip with second hand and instantly step in for another strike.

Break away and gauge the opponent. Step to the side waiting for a opening in my mirror, just like he observes me. Take a step forward, followed by a half step and charge. A single handed strike, met by his single handed block. A thrust palm, caught by his free hand. An attempted retreat, failed. I punch using my sword, and he lets me go jumping back. He puts his second hand on his sword and prepares to accept my next attack.

My thoughts are interrupted though by the sounding of the bell. I sigh and slip back into my normal persona before slowly building back into my Trickster persona. I stretch a little and look over at my master who is looking at me strangely. "What is it?"

"What in akasha was that?"

"What was what?"

"You just changed your hair colour and fighting style out of nowhere."

"Wait, my hair colour changed?" That shouldn't happen. "Did my hair dye disappear or something?"

"No, it's blonde again. But that doesn't answer my question. How, did you just do that?"

"All I did was took what I knew about him and started to act like him. Since I know so little about him my fighting style was horrible, but I could use the sword a little more effectively. I also had to do some tweaks to the whole mindset because the guy I was acting as was right in front of me, but overall, I sucked, I failed to land a single hit, even with all your help... actually, no wait. I nicked the Master."

"That has already been healed."

And finished changing Persona. "Well, what a way to put a damper on my show Master. Either way, it seems that I really don't have the potential to hit that guy in straight up combat. And since we can't afford to let them win again, what do you say to helping our friends get a victory."

"I was planning on that regardless."

"But do you have a plan?"

"Not yet, but it's not like you have one yet either."

"Actually. I do. We get them a Royal flush."

* * *

To the audience, the next several hours were filled with constant failure. And yet, they were also filled with a small amount of curiosity. After his first victory, the masked Servant had walked over to Jester and talked to him. What was strange however is that the members of the audience didn't get to hear the conversation. Many of the audience pondered on the effect of the conversation. And yet, they watched as the same scenario played over and over. The Masked Servant was victorious, he attacked the Servant of Yamato, and he failed to defeat him. This constantly repeated itself.

A change finally occurred however, when Yamato finally revealed a better hand than he normally used. His Servant played down a full house, made of three kings and two jacks. In retaliation the two other Servants revealed a Joker each. And hence started the most interesting round in the preliminaries so far.

All three Servants charged straight towards the same card. The dashed alongside the other, yet in the end after the struggle between the masked Servant and Yamato's Servant broke out, the victor was the third Servant, belonging to Elroy. After that, the Servants collided several times and in the end the result was the same. The masked Servant blocked Yamato's Servant, and Elroy's Servant got the card he needed. The Master's went about collecting the cards as normal, but the fierce competition between the Servant's had everyone's attention.

In the end, after everyone had returned, all hands were shown. The Masked Servant only had three of a kind, Yamato's Servant had his full house, and yet, somehow the last Servant had a Royal Flush. For the first time in the preliminaries Elroy's Servant would get a chance to attack.

The third Servant pulled a sword out of thin air and leapt across the table. He was intercepted by the masked Servant. The masked Servant blocked several blows before being sent flying by a particularly strong blow. Yamato and his Servant, seeing an opportunity to retreat had started to take it, only to be interrupted by the masked Servant flying by them. They saw as he slammed into the ground and rolled a few times, and turned to defend against their pursuer. As Yamato's Servant blocked the first Strike the audience could hear the small piece of dialog that passed between them as their blows rang out..

The attacking Servant let loose a piece of information that many were curious about. "I'm quite aware of who you are, Susano-o, and I know that I can't defeat you in a straight up fight. This is a battle of the trickster."

"Oh, and you think that a small little trick can stop me? If you know my name than surely you know what comes with it?"

"I doubt that you are the actual god Susano-o and are only someone who fills the role, but still it's best that we stop here. I've already won after all."

The servant revealed to be named Susano-o looked back and saw the sight of his Master, trapped and held at knife point by Elroy. The old man who had only been wheeled around by wheelchair was standing up perfectly. Next to them stood the masked Servant. The audience members who weren't enthralled by the standoff between the opposing Servants saw the masked Servant quickly recover and attack Yamato with a piece of magic rope, before pinning him to the ground. The attack came out of nowhere and Yamato was trapped before he could even react.

"Well played. Trapping my Master by making us lower our guard. Impressive. But still, you haven't played close enough attention to my abilities have you?" Susano-o held a hand out and Yamato started to shrink down, transforming into the shape of a small katana, before magically appearing in Susano-o's hand. "Do you really think that you could stop me from escaping from such a situation? I. Am. A. Hero, praised as a god. This is nothing to..."

At that very moment a knife burst out from the ground, right underneath Susano-o. The blade managed to scratch Susano-o as he tried to instantly dodge. But that was it. The fight was over. Yamato returned to normal, and Susano-o stopped moving. He was injured by the specially prepared knife. He was kept still on purpose, and now faced the consequences. The victorious Servant stepped over Susano-o and drove his blade right into his neck, ending the Servants life as it's body faded away in wisps of light.

* * *

I lean on the poker table, regaining my stamina and with our plan successful. It took a lot of preparation into getting our plan to work. We had to take into account their style of retreat, their personalities and the location of the cards they had hidden. We had spent a good three hours in order to get our plan to work and soon it will be time for me to take my leave from the stage as well.

"Living up to our deal, it is now your turn to help us. You've gotten everything you need. You just need to extract the flame from my Servant now." I can hear Master talking softly in the distance. I on the other hand am watching as Yamato is being escorted out of the Arena by some of the Staff.

I follow for a bit thinking of congratulating him for offering such a great show, but I stop. I can always see him after this is all over. I am about to turn around when something catches my eye. The staff and Yamato have rounded the corner, but thanks to a reflective surface, and my currently enhanced vision I can see what is going on around the corner. Yamato is stabbed repeatedly by the staff members, just around the corner upon exiting the arena. What!? Why is he being killed!?

I charge towards the exit only to be stopped by even more staff members, "You are not permitted to leave the arena. Any further attempts to escape will be met with appropriate action."

"What the hell did you just do to Yamato?!" You bastards just killed someone. I know that his Servant killed people before, but still.

"We silenced him in order to remove any unpredictable elements from the Holy Grail War. Any Master that loses their Servant in the Preliminaries will be eliminated in order to ensure that they do not influence the War in any way. This was explained to all Masters upon entry"

"..." So, if Master loses, then he will die? But our deal is so that I can escape. He's going to die just so I can get out of here? "..."

I turn around and walk back to Master. He is still discussing the plan with Elroy and his Servant. I walk straight over to Master and grab him by the shirt. "When were you planning to tell me that you would be killed the instant we lose?"

"Never. How did you find out?" So you were hiding it from me on purpose. That's great. Just great.

"Yamato was murdered as soon as he walked around the corner. They didn't even wait for him to reach his room. I managed to see it and questioned the staff about it. Let me say this. I am not comfortable at all about letting someone die just so I can get out. If I wasn't putting on this persona at this very second, then let me tell you this Master; I would be heaving up my insides. I am not used to death. I am not used to killing. I am doing all this just so I can live. However, that doesn't mean that I'm willing to sacrifice other human lives just for my own."

"But you have no choice. This is the only way that I could think of in order for you to get out of this."

I turn towards the other Servant. "Odysseus. That is your name isn't it. The bag at your waist wouldn't happen to contain the winds of Aeolus, would it?"

"And, I guess I should ask, how did you figure out my name?"

"It was an educated guess. But even still, I would have been incredibly unsure if you didn't just confirm it." Having studied Drama in back at school, I have been introduced to the basic story of the Odyssey. Also, when think of Greek and Roman individuals worthy to become a Trickster, the only real name I could put too it was the man who thought of the Trojan Horse. Of course, there is undoubtedly more impressive tacticians from that time, but he was the only one I could think of in the last couple of hours. It goes to show how poor I am at history. "Regardless, that didn't answer my question."

"Very well, I'll play along. Yes, this bag contains the winds of Aeolus. However, having listened in to your conversations, let me say this. It will not help you. These winds can transport vessels, not people. Against people it is only to be used as a weapon. At best, all I can do is transport my Master to safety somewhere while attacking everyone else.."

"I see..." Well, there goes that plan. I have only one option left. "Give the bag to your Master. I'm going to have to fight you here, to ensure both my life and Master's. I would prefer a battle without our Noble Phantasm's making a mess. And if your winds are used as a weapon, I'm not sure at what scale the damage would be."

"You wish to continue with this game that Jester has set up for us? So be it." Odysseus walked over to his Master and gave him the leather bag. Since I actually have no idea as to what my Noble Phantasm would be, or even if I actually have one, I hand to my Master my special deck, wrapped up in handkerchiefs to hide it from plain view. I turn back to see Odysseus talk to his Master. "Master, my last obstacle stands before me now. In order to achieve both your wish and my own I will strike down our enemies. However, I am a man with pride. I will challenge him on a battlefield of equality. Hold onto the bag but don't open it. Just await for my victory. So now, please, if only for this battle, return to me my bow."

On my hand, my Master was looking at me furiously. "Do you intend to get yourself killed?! Just let my plan take its course. You'll be able to return to your normal life once you do."

"Master, shut up. Just stand over in the corner of the arena or something. Think about what you want from the Holy Grail. Just command me to win this battle. That is all you have to do. I am your Servant, and as such, I will grant you victory."

"You can't win against someone like Odysseus! His skill as both a warrior and a tactician are far above yours. Not to mention that he is nearly a full Servant while you only have dregs of the power. This isn't a fight, this is just going to be a one sided massacre."

"Master, just command me!"

"Even if I use a command spell to assist you there is no way for you to win. Even during the battle with Susano-o he made most of our strategy. You should know just how skilled he is. You just cannot win."

"You don't need a command spell. Just say to me, 'Trickster, defeat Odysseus.' That is all you need to do. I told you to leave everything to me, so do so."

"I never should have brought you here. If only I had not been so impatient. If only I had more time to stop you. I guess I'll just have to stop you here. **_As your Master I command you to-_**" I punch him right in the face. No matter how hard I tried to explain that everything was fine my Master just refused to trust me. Also, by the way his arm started to glow when he was saying that, I just knew that I had to stop him there. I can't quite tell why, but I knew that it was a bad idea.

My master is lying unconscious on the ground as Jester walks over to me, a confused look on his face. "I was about to say we should continue with the hiding of the cards, but do you mind telling me what just happened?"

"Master was getting stressed out, I was getting stressed out and I needed a way to calm down. Master can rest while I tie up the loose ends here."

"You can rest him on my chair. If you sat him in his chair his life would be imminent danger, no offense."

"None taken. I'm fully aware of my limited ability to fight. And using his bow I have very limited options for dodging his arrows as well. I'll take your kindness gratefully. Also, if I may, can I ask you some questions..."

* * *

The cards are hidden. In order for me to win, and to live, I have to get a working poker hand while Odysseus has to have a hand of lower value than mine. I wait for the bell then charge straight towards the location that should be his Ace of spades. If I can devoid him of a single card then his hand is ruined.

I arrive at the destination first and go to remove the ace, only to find out that is was merely a 2 of spades. He's predicted what I would try to do and acted accordingly. I quickly make my way to the next place that I saw him and find yet another two. It's quite obvious that he pities me. He gave me a pair to play around with. I stop chasing him for a while and go after the cards that I hid. I bump into my enemy as I'm tracking down my cards but I manage to scrape together my three 7's that I hid. With this I have a full house, but it still isn't enough. I try to obtain even a single card from his royal flush but the bell rings before I'm successful.

After preparing myself I head to the poker table. I managed to get myself a large cloth to put together a bandanna for myself. I asked for a size a little larger in order to also wrap it around my mouth. This would hide my face properly, but even still, I keep the mask on over top.

Sitting down at the table, I look at the Servant sitting directly across from me. He looks me straight in the eyes and speaks to me, "Look we can still go about our deal. I don't really want to kill someone like you. You're still young, so I'll wake your Master up when I'm done, okay?"

"Our plan won't work. It was doomed from the very start. In order for me to escape he needed to rescue me from the area they would dispose of my body from. If he dies just around that door, then it is pointless regardless."

"Your Master seemed confident though."

"I could see it in his eyes. After I told him about Yamato, he had given up hope. Still, he wanted to at least try to let me live. I bet he would have tried some suicidal strategy just to give me a chance of escape. I however, know that I just have to defeat you. With your Master holding the winds of Aeolus, he can escape easily. You might have stopped me this round but I will persevere until I defeat you."

The man sitting before me sighs. "I see, if you hold so much faith in yourself, then I will come at you with everything I have and crush you. This bow of mine will put a hole in your chest." The bow by his side that he somehow retrieved from his Master is the same height as he is, if not taller. The wood of the bow is incredibly thick and each individual arrow is almost a short spear. A single strike will end everything.

Jester, standing beside his chair rather than sitting in it starts announcing. "Place your hands down onto the table. Folding has no meaning at this point." Once both of us our hands face down on the table Jester starts to speak again. "This could very well be the last round of this so watch closely folks. Now, reveal your cards!"

Both of our hands are flipped and almost instantly it starts. Odysseus has drawn his bow and I have prepared. I've stood up and watch as the arrow is loosed. With all that I can muster I move the mask off my face and put it to my chest right before the arrow strikes. I'm blasted off my feet and land on my back. The mask is shattered, but the arrow only pierces the skin by an inch. It doesn't pierce thorough my sternum, but it might be cracked.

As I push myself to my feet I say a single line. "Stab yourself with the knife I left on the table." I motion to the anti-servant knife that is beside my cards.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because otherwise I will kill your Master. It's is as simple as that." As I say that I see Jester looking at me. In my hand, I hold a single card. The Ace of Spades. The same card as the one lying on the table. But mine is the real one. Of course, Odysseus doesn't know this.

"Elroy and his Servant have attacked after being disqualified for cheating. As such the Servant shall be restrained for the Duration of Antony's and his Servant's time to attack." I'm in incredible pain, but I've won. It all want accordingly to plan.

Odysseus looks at Jester in a combination of panic and rage. "What do you mean after my disqualification? Both me and my Master have done nothing wrong!" The ground surrounding Odysseus starts to glow and Odysseus falls to his knees as if under incredible pressure.

Jester looks almost amused as he tells both the confused audience and the opposing team as to what happened. "The ace you used in the Royal Flush isn't from the deck you are using. I've already confirmed that the real ace is in your opponent's hands. And since you attacked after losing the round, you have been restrained."

I stagger my way over to Odysseus. "I'll say it again, stab yourself with the knife or I'll attack your Master. I'm might not be able to move fast after you shot me in the chest, and I really wasn't expecting my mask to break either, It was supposed to be as hard as steel. Anyway, as I was saying, I can't move fast, but I can still throw my knives. So should we play a game? Will your Master survive my assault or will I land a blow straight between the eyes?"

"Fine you win. But tell me, what did you do? If I'm going to return to the throne of Heroes, I want to at least know how you managed to defeat me. I'll add it to my list of strategies." He pulls himself up using the table, his bow discarded and grabs onto the knife. "Master, when I stab myself, You need to flee. I've known you for not even a day, yet still..."

His Master looks at him and clutches the leather bag in his lap. "I see, so this is how our fight ends. I'm sorry for being your weakness."

"You weren't a weakness at all. It was my fault. I was fell for his trick... So tell me, my worthy opponent, how did you defeat me?"

"I'm a man who never reveals his tricks, but just for you I'll let it slip. I once acted out your role in a play, so think of this as a little gift. Though, the audience is probably curious as hell as well. I've had everything I needed since before we started. When I was playing poker with Jester earlier, I was able to steal some of the cards. I aimed for the aces when I could, and no one noticed because Jester destroys all of his cards. I had all four aces before I lost. It was tricky to do but I wanted every advantage I could when we started. After your fight with Susano-o I swapped out your ace just in case. I had every intention of losing at that time, but I needed to make our fight believable. Also, since it is only an disqualification to use the card in your poker hand, we were both free to carry the ace around. I was going to tell you about the ace once the next round started, but..."

"You lost your way to get out and used what would have been a way to make the fight interesting, you turned it into the finisher." And with that Odysseus moved the blade to his neck. "Very well played. You put your body on the line to save both yourself and your Master. Let me give a warning though. You will no longer have any way to escape. From now on, those who seek the Grail will hunt you down. Their strength will be something that you must put everything into to deflect. And as such I offer a gift in return. Go to the Jörmungandr section of Lucidus Island. Go to room 203 of the Pandora Hotel. The catalyst to summon me will be there. It should help you somewhat. You who have bested me, win this war, that is the most you can do for those who dreams you have crushed."

His words rang heavily on my soul as I watch him slit his own throat with the special dagger. Wind blows through the arena almost simultaneously and his Master vanishes. Odysseus has a relieved smile on his face, amidst the blood flowing, and drives the knife into his heart. His body breaks down before my eyes.

Once nothing remains I feel an intense heat building up from the pit of my stomach. It starts to grow warmer and warmer before I can literally feel flames underneath my skin. "AAAAHHHHHHH!" The pain is unbearable! My body must be breaking down! But why! I won didn't I! Shouldn't I live because of this?! So why does the darkness that blankets my eyes and threatens to swallow me whole seem like my last moment of all of this?

* * *

Day 1

The darkness finally fades away. My eyes witness light for the first time in what must be years. The world is blurred and swirls, but still, it is still there. That much brings relief to me. Once my ability to see stabilizes I see Antony sitting in the corner reading a book. Speaking of which, where am I? I'm lying in some incredibly fancy bed, in a room that looks even more impressive than the one that I would have slept in back at the hotel.

Antony looks up from his book and seeing me awake quickly puts it down and moves over to me. "It's about time you woke up. It just passed midnight, so you've been unconscious for about 17 hours. I needed you awake so I could prove that I'm not crazy. We lost the preliminaries, right?"

I have trouble making words for a second, half due to mulling things over, and half due to feeling as horrible as I am at the moment. "No, I won in the end. I took an arrow to the chest, but I managed to keep both you and Elroy alive. Winning is a side-effect to it all. Also, I've been out for 17 hours? It's no wonder I feel as weird as I do. I feel pain, yet at the same time I can feel energy flow through my veins in vast amounts."

"Well, you're a fully fledged Servant now... however you managed to pull it off. You knock me out, then somehow manage to defeat a legendary spirit. You do realize that escape is even harder than ever?"

"It could very well be impossible. At this moment in time I'm more worried about staying alive in this game rather than ending up like..." Remembering the state of the people that I saw during the preliminaries earlier, I feel bile build up in my throat. I push myself out of bed and quickly look around for the toilet before hurling up my insides.

After several minutes of dry retching I feel comfortable enough to speak with Antony again.  
"As I was saying, I don't really have a wish of any kind. I just want to live. However, if I get a wish and get to stay alive for defeating my opponents, I'm willing to defeat enemy Servants and obtain both. It's just, I'm not sure how useful I'd be."

"Well, then we could just check. Now that you're a full Servant, supposedly I should be able to see your stats. Hold still while I give them a check." I hold still as he puts his hand on my right shoulder. He closes his eyes and concentrates for a few seconds before breaking away. "Good, I have access to it this time. Now, let's have a look through... Low Strength and Endurance. Average Agility. Abysmal levels for magical energy, though expected. Huh, you really do have decent luck. Now let's see about... Why does it show the 'principles of mystic eyes and derivative magecraft' for you level of curse resistance?"

"Um, what?" That, sounds awfully like a book of some kind, not a scale of how good it is. That's... strange to say the least.

"Mages use the concept easiest for them to rank Servants and their characteristics. A lot use the typical grade scale, some use colours or animals. I on the other hand rank them according to books. Something probably caused by spending so much time around them. However, in terms you can understand, your level of curse resistance is so high, the description says that you basically nullify anything that isn't from a god. It's so high that for some reason you can negate mental interference branch magecraft as well."

"I can't be effected by curses? That really cool. Though why can I do it so well?"

"I have no idea myself, but don't think that this is an advantage straight away. A curse and a blessing are the same thing by magecraft standards. Since the only difference is what the intention is we mages just call all of them curses. This means that most forms of assistance I give you will not work from the very beginning."

"So, no bad effects also means no good effects either? Well, that ends up rather neutral. Anything else that could be of use? It feels weird having you tell me what I can do, but still, we need everything we can get."

"Another high level text has appeared. One of the skills you have, the 'Everett Style Persona Change' is apparently at the same rank. Is that referring to your acting skills?"

It pulled the name of my acting style right out of me... creepy. "Yeah, that's what we call it. Since my grandpa created this particular mindset for all of his acting and passed it down to my father and me, we sort of consider it a family thing. But is it really so high?"

"Undoubtedly so. Let me just look at the description for a second... Could you do me a favour?"

"What is it?" I'm fine with helping him out while he is doing things.

"Could you use this persona change of yours to take on the role of a Saber for a second?" A simple enough request.

I need to change into someone who would fit into the Saber role. A knight from Europe would fit the bill fine. Someone who could be accepted as a Servant could be someone like one of the knights or the round table. Maybe, I don't know Sir Tristan? but I don't really know enough about him, or any of the other knights of the round table really. Maybe I should just form a sort of knight persona as a combination of the knights of the round table itself. A knight who protected England and served under King Arthur himself. Building persona, and erasing any obstacles to it. Create an image of the appearance and personality of a knight of the round table. And constructed.

"Pray tell me, is this what thee desired?" I move my hand about to accentuate my speech and noticed something odd immediately. I'm wearing my armour, so that's fine. My sword at my waist is fine. My voice is as rich as it always is, yet for some reason something seems off, and Master is in shock. "Is something about me, Saber, not to thy liking, Master?"

"You're wearing armour, have a sword, your voice has changed, you've grown several centimetres and grown some facial hair. Not to mention that your Class on this list and you class skill has changed to Saber and Magic resistance, even if at only D rank. Your persona change is what one would call ridiculous."

Wait the imaginary armour I'm wearing isn't imaginary? With the small gap in my mind, every returns as to it once was and I can quite literally see as the armour fades away and is replaced my normal clothes. "Did I just do what I think I did?"

"Yes. It seems that what I gathered about your skill is right. You've basically got an altered version of the Ruler class feature as one of your skills. Your acting is so advanced right now that you can basically change appearance and even Servant class at will now, even if your stats stay the same. You will be sub-par as that Servant, but I actually have hope for us now. Admittedly, your armour was probably an illusion of sorts, but even so, that is utterly ridiculous. Well, you've also got some mediocre skills to go with it. Sleight of hand is at a decent rank, but isn't really that amazing, and you skill at throwing knives will really only work on Masters."

"So it's all up and down. Well, it's obvious that I'm not some all powerful individual. The Servant ritual is used to make me better after all, so it does make sense that what I'm good at will get better. It doesn't mean that I'd become the best at them though."

"What makes me curious though, is what is your Noble Phantasm? It has an average ranking in you stats, so what is it?" Antony stays silent for a little bit before looking at me. His right eye almost seems to twitch. "Your cards are your noble phantasm. The one in the fancy box. They drop luck to the level of 'a 3 year old child's scribbles'. That might explain why you knocked me out after I touched them. Touching either the box or the cards leads to bad things happening. It seems that use can also use the cards as throwing knives, but basically only you can touch them without problem. It seems that the first use for your curse resistance is here. You will be carrying those yourself from now on. It's strange though, I can't sense anything magical at all from the cards or the box. Well, regardless, your cards can be used to cause random bits of chaos. They might not be useful for outright defeating the enemy, but they can be useful depending on the situation."

"My cards really are cursed? I actually find that funny because that was a... You know what, I think I've found a wish I want granted." If this 'Holy Grail' really can grant any wish, then I should be able to fix Dad's arms, allowing him to perform magic again. Then, I could finally properly challenge him for his title.

"You finally have a wish? Good, because for the duration of this tournament, you will be giving away your name. From now on, you are Trickster, and will answer as such unless I otherwise specify."

"Yes, Master!" I'm not in my Servant persona at the moment but I answer like that anyway. Actually, I wonder... I focus on the persona that I created before we started the preliminaries and erase my current one rather quickly. Next I know, I can feel my mask on my face once again. "Well Master, this is awfully convenient. If it's past midnight, that means this war has properly started so we have something we should do immediately. I'm ready, so let's go find what Odysseus and Elroy had that they wanted us to have."

* * *

Once I exited the room I was able to get a better look at where I was staying. For some reason I woke up inside what appears to be a mansion. I'm not quite sure at what size a house gets to be called a mansion, but it definitely looks the part. The entrance hall alone is filled with marble pillars and lush red carpet. Famous looking paintings litter the walls, and a vast array of flowers add that little extra depth to the vibrant colours. It's something definitely above what I should ever normally be able to stay at.

"So, why are we inside a mansion of all places?" I mean, it's nice and all, but isn't this place easy to find. In a situation where people and incredibly powerful figures are trying to hunt you down, wouldn't staying here be a bad choice?

"Allow me to explain that." Oh god! Where the hell did he come from. In the small period of time that I've been looking at the surroundings, Jester somehow appeared out of nowhere. "After you collapsed from the stress of the completion of the Servant summon ritual, we had to take you somewhere safe. This is the main headquarters set up for you and your Master to use on this Island. The magical defences that have been set up for your stay by us are impeccable. Regardless of the level of skill, it should take any intruder at least a day to enter. Should they be faster, well, we have hidden escape routes for that kind of thing."

"So this is where we'll be staying for the tournament then?"

At this my Master speaks up. "We will be staying here for the time being. However, soon we will be requiring additional places to stay. If we are to have any chance of staying alive we quite frankly need backup plans. Everywhere. However, before we get to that, would you mind explaining about this 'item' that Elroy wanted us to have?"

"In a show of sportsmanship, if you can call it that, Odysseus offered me something that he thought would help me since I defeated him, and he wished to pay me back for the trick I gave him."

"What in akasha did I miss while I was unconscious?" Way too much Master, way too much.

"Apparently the item that he wanted to give me was the summoning catalyst that Elroy used to summon him. I think he said that it was in their hotel at..."

"Pandora Hotel." Jester calls out the answer while I struggle to answer. "It's in the Jörmungandr section of Lucidus Island. If memory served he said that their room was number 203."

"Thanks for that Jester. Anyway, I would like to ask if we could head that way first, Master. Anything and everything we can get should help out."

My master stops and thinks for a second. "My assistants should still take a while to arrive. Also, I will not deny that I'm curious as to what this catalyst is, and as to how it will benefit us. Alright, we'll head out immediately, however we have to be careful. From now on, every move we make could be our last."

"And upon you saying that, I feel all of my curiosity and intent to leave this place fade." I don't look forward to getting myself killed so early on in this overly violent tournament.

"We have to do what we can. However, before we head off, you should really take a shower and get a change of clothes."

"Oh yeah, it's been a fair while since the preliminaries. It would be good to wear some new clothes. Also, if I can, I need something to eat. I haven't eaten in what may or may not be over 2 days. Just saying, I only just noticed, but I might just keel over."

Jester give a light smile an motions down a hallway. "The closest bathroom is down the hallway, third door on the left. I will have a light meal brought to you immediately."

"You're acting awfully... I don't know, butler like?"

"That's because, after fulfilling my role as the announcer for the Trickster preliminaries I really had nothing to do, so I offered my services to your Master. Oh, and it's Head butler."

"So there is even more than just you?"

"I brought most of my staff team. We look forward to serving you. You may call us for everything from cooking and cleaning, to serving as a talented defence force." He takes a bow before walking off to what may or may not be the kitchen. I really can't be sure.

"We sure have the high life, don't we master?"

"We better, because if we aren't careful, the only writings mentioning us will be mentioning as to how we died"

"Master, I've said this before. Please don't put a damper on things. It really strains against my positivity."

* * *

One butler arranged boat trip later, we find ourselves back on Lucidus Island. "So, Master, do you have any idea as to where we are? I don't have a map of the area, and for some reason my phone refuses to work." It still refuses to get a single bar of connection anywhere. The only use for my phone at the moment is to tell the time. And that isn't even set to the time on the island. It goes to show my preparedness.

"We are currently in the Apollo zone. The zone next over is the Jörmungandr zone that we want. Both are fairly high quality areas that are suitable for those who..."

"We're in the Apollo zone?! Then that means that we must be near the hotel that my family are staying at. I have to go and tell them that I'm alive!"

"That's an incredibly bad idea and I'm sure you know that."

Of course I know that. Now that I'm part of this game, every single weakness that I have is something that can be and will be exploited by others. If other Servant and Master pairs knew about my family... "But still, at the current point at time, I have to let them know. I'm sure my family are absolutely crushed. I've been missing for about 3 days now and haven't been able to contact them at all."

"Wait, 3 days? Are you a runaway or something?" Oh yeah, I never got around to explaining that to Master. I almost slipped out of my Persona after realising where I am, but I managed to quickly restore myself.

"I was shot twice by some crazy guy. I'm surprised as all hell that I'm still alive, but when I woke up there was no medical staff at the time and it was during a black out. Something strange was happening nearby so I quickly left. That was just before I met you."

"You survived after being shot twice. You really do have good luck."

"Getting shot negates that idea. A lucky man doesn't get shot."

"Regardless, I guess... I mean... Let's just quickly see that your family are fine, you can slip them a note or something. We have to leave quickly, but I won't deny you the ability to see that their okay, all right?"

As I go to answer back I feel something of in the distance. It's hard to describe the feeling with any word except one, oppressive. I can quite literally feel something moving towards me from the centre of the city. "Master, I don't know what, but something is heading our way!" I instantly prepare myself. My hands reach to my throwing knives and I pull out the first two, gripping them tightly as the oppressive feeling edges closer.

"Trickster, I can sense the level of prana in the air as well. A Servant is heading towards us. This is way too quickly. And inside the main city to boot. This isn't good. Servants can naturally sense other's so unless we can run really quickly we can't get away. Trickster, dodge!"

I react instantly. I dive to the right, and roll along the ground before springing to my feet, all in a fluid motion. The ground where I was standing erupted. A large earthen spike slammed into the ground where I was standing but that small second ago. If Master hadn't of warned me then I would probably be dead right at this moment. The source of the attack, the presence. It continuously comes closer. Step by step.

It is only now that I realise that this particular area is devoid of movement. All that is here is me, Master and the Servant walking towards us. Is that some kind of magic, or is no one around here at 2 in the morning? Either way I'm about to be in viewing range of the enemy Servant.

I position myself between the Servant and my Master as it finally comes into view. I'm in a little disarray when I finally see Her though. Her immediate beauty leaves me stunned. If she wasn't wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt, then I would have believed she was a goddess, like those displayed in famous pieces of art work. Her figure and how she moved showed every bit of confidence in herself. Her pitch black hair flowed down, blocking off half of her face from view, but even then, all it did was accentuate what could be seen. Despite having hair of the blackest night, it was easy to see that she was Caucasian, so either she dyed it like I did, or it has something to do with why I feel so incredibly disturbed right now.

My senses are running wild, screaming to me about the danger I face just looking at her in the eyes. To make things worse, I could swear that my special deck is actually making noises, further enhancing the sheer disturbance of the situation.

The woman in front of me, looking to be at only 20 years of age, was wearing clothes that didn't fit the image of a servant. Yet even still, it was immediately recognisable that she was one. And the aura she gave off. It was so contradictory, like she was both the nicest person you would ever meet, yet at the same time, a demon waiting to slowly pull you apart a laugh with a grin on her face.

Then there is the large chunk of rock that I barely managed to dodge. It was nearly the size of a bus. With that much power behind her there is no way for me to defeat her in a straight up fashion.

As I focused every ounce of my being into watching and reading her actions, what she did next confused me. All she did was say "Prostrate yourself."

I know that you showed off you power, and I really haven't, but still, calling for my surrender already? "Do you think that you can make me give up that easily?"

"Why do you still stand? All should obey my very word, just like your Master is." Not wanting to give her a single advantage I refuse to look behind me. I am the Servant of trickery, and if I fell to a simple mind game then my dignity would be crushed.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, but I'd rather not deal with you right now. I have things that I need to do, and I really don't need to be locked in a battle to the death right now. You've shown that your strong, now please, just let me and Master move along."

"Judging by your willingness to fight, and your lack of a decent looking hold on yourself, you are trickster, correct? Tell me, why do you not bow? I must have no obstacles before me. If I actually fight then..."

Her over-bearing demeanour breaks for a slight second before I hear a loud voice, booming out of seemingly nowhere. "Temptress, I thought I told you to eliminate the enemy Servant! Why have you not killed him yet?!"

"But tea-... But Master, he can resist me!" For a second it seemed that she was going to say something, but then she choked and said something else. Why is she giving off two completely different feelings?

Once again I hear the voice from nowhere. "Yet his Master should be under your control, should he not? We can decipher as to why he can resist your will later, for now, just make his Master kill himself." Oh hell no!

I turn around and dash off towards Master as I hear the words come from behind me, "Kill yourself!" Master starts to manipulate the pages into a sword as if he is in some sort of trance. He smiles with glee and says, "Gladly" right before my fist plants itself into his face for the second time, once again knocking him out right before he did something he would never get the chance to regret.

However, this shows something. The enemy Servant, Temptress, if the voice is saying anything right, and I guess I can agree, is capable of controlling others. In that case, if I'm immune, then I'll just have to defeat her before it becomes too dangerous to remain. If she can use her powers on multiple targets... I don't even want to consider.

I stand up straight positioning myself between my Master and Temptress once again. "I'm clearly outmatched here. I'd like to run, but I'm not confident in escaping while carrying Master. In that case, all I can do is..." ***SPLAT* **

I turn around to look at Master once again and am greeted by a sight that makes no sense to me. Master is missing his head and all that is there to replace it is a large amount of red and chunks of flesh. "Master!" *Thud* I feel a heavy pain in my chest. I look down and see red starting to stain me chest. The source of the pain however, didn't come from my opponent. In fact she looks as surprised as I am. She collapses on the ground in obvious fear. Just how contradictory are you? One moment you are trying to kill us, the next you seem like the average woman who is experiencing this first hand.

I look out to where I believed the source of my pain to have come from. My body isn't functioning properly. The hole in my chest is a lot larger than previous attempts to kill me. Yet even still, I can move. I look out and all I can see in the light is the ocean, far in the distance. If I can't see the person attacking me, does that mean they are out in the ocean somewhere. The only indication I have about the location of the shooter, is that it isn't from where I came from, Trickster Island.

Feeling my blood drain from me even as I think I start moving, intent to do the first thing the comes to mind. I dash over to Master's body and pick it up in one hand, then dash over and drag the female Servant with me as I make my way behind a building, just avoiding another incoming bullet by sheer luck.

Safely behind the building, the enemy Servant I just saved has started thinking again and is looking at me like I'm some kind of strange life form. "Why did you just save me? You should have just abandoned me, left me alone just like everyone else." Well, that's harsh to the guy who just saved you.

"I would like to argue, but my Master is dead, I'm bleeding out heavy, and I'm slowly starting to lose my ability to see. Let's just say that it was just random events that lead to me saving you."

"That doesn't make sense at all." Huh? That's strange. I can't feel anything any more... and when did I fall over? Why can't I feel my arms... oh it's because their over there... Huh? Why are my arms over there? And why is there a giant hole in the wall I was leaning on? Why, I am like this? Is this... all I could do...? Do I die in a ridiculous way like this? That hole is... massive... far larger than the... bullet hole I had in my chest... It's no longer there... My mask that I used... to hide my face... has faded away... since it was just an... illusion after all...

Well... it was a good run... I just can't care any more... At least, for some reason... I can't feel anything... Even Temptress's screaming... as she looks at my face... as odd as it seems... feels dull to my ears. Maybe I'll... just close my eyes... and it'll all... fade... away...

* * *

Duwain, creator of the islands, and true ruler of the Holy Grail War sat upon a throne inside of a mansion in the Island he had claimed as his own. Regardless of being the ruler of the Islands, he battled for his position in the War, and won it rightfully. And so, rather than taking residence on Lucidus Island, he sat in one of the prepared mansions for each of the Servant-Master teams.

It has been nearly 24 hours since he first sat down on the chair. He waits with a patience beyond what he has displayed recently. Each step he takes now must be calculated. Even if the madness that plagues him is also a source of power, he doesn't have the confidence to crush all challenges before him. Hence, just like all of the other Master's, he waits for the prime time to strike. He has already sent his Servant off on reconnaissance, and now he awaits information from them, or any other source that he can.

In the end though, as midnight struck, ending the first day of the battlefield called the Holy Grail War, the one who entered the room to give him information was not his Servant.

"Aventis, I thought that I told you that you were to stay on the Lucidus Island. Don't tell me that your breaking one of the guidelines I set up for you already?"

"I'm here to report the problems we are currently having with the Holy Grail War. There are several, and I thought that you should at least be aware of their existence."

The man pushed himself out of his throne and walked over to a nearby window. Many would say that sitting in a place with a nearby window was just asking to be killed, yet Duwain just took it in stride. "So, Aventis, you're going to tell me, the very man who set up this war, that there are problems? I knew that they would exist from the very start. In fact, I started everything fully aware that my system isn't perfect. That is the constraints upon us."

"Yet even so, I feel that you should at least be informed. There is something rather odd with some of the Master-Servant pairs. We also believe that we've identified the 'entity' that you warned us about."

"So quickly? I doubt that you've already found the thing, but leave a detailed report for me to look at. I finally understand what it's like to be at the Throne of Heroes. All I can do is sit around and read, waiting for something new to read until that is all that is left to your existence. Quite frankly, it bores me to no end."

"Regardless sir, that isn't one of the big problems we have to deal with. We have discovered the existence of ghouls in Lucidus city, and some of the preliminary round Servants have escaped from the Berserker area."

"So we have vampires just waltzing around? Send them a greeting, send them an invitation, I don't care. Just, when you find them, tell them this, 'You are on my island, all you had to do was ask and I would have supplied you with blood for the duration of your stay. I'm nice to the audience after all. Yet you trampled over my kindness, so I am just going to remove you from existence, starting from your left leg.' Would you be so kind as to pass on that message?"

"As soon as we find the offending vampire or vampires, sir."

"Now, about the missing Berserker's, you should be able to locate them, am I right?"

"Of course, we have squads out now trying to find eliminate them."

The sound of glass shattering was heard as Duwain punched his hand straight through the window. "Trying? I don't want any trying here Aventis? Either you start no trying or I might just... AVENTIS! I just had an idea!"

"Um, what is it Sir?"

"I'm currently stuck here, sitting on thrones and punching windows, right?"

"That is what you're doing at this moment."

"Then all I have to do, is not sit down, move away from the windows, and stretch my arms for a bit. A little bit of light practice before I start fighting fully fledged Servants might be nice. Aventis, get my rain coat. It's going to rain blood, but I just have to try out my new 'walking' shirt."

"I'll get onto that immediately. But there is one final problem."

"This better hurry. I feel the need to hum violently building up."

"One of the Servant's has vanished. We recorded the death of a Master, and the life signs of the Servant disappeared as well, yet there is no sign of the Servant at all. Rather than going into the grail, the Servant just... vanished."

"Well, isn't that just something to ruin my mood. Aventis, I've lost the mood to hum. You'll have to follow behind me and hum for me instead. Also, let's see if we can kill another Servant while we're going out for our walk and make sure this isn't just an anomaly. We can't have this entire war falling apart can we? I've put too much into this, just to lose everything because of some stupid error in the system. Well, it's not like we needed to kill every other Servant anyway. Killing them all is just the bonus round after all."

_Oh you who have returned to the darkness, why have you returned before completing your goal? Are you here once again in order to battle against the darkness yet more? Or are you just lost on your way? Regardless, nothing is over yet, so we shall have to play this game for a little while longer. Come, let us kill each other for our own desires, like the madmen that we are._

**Author Notes: (Warning! May be long winded!)**

And so that is the second chapter. I'm sorry that it took so long to get up, I've been busy, and well, it's bigger than the previous chapter as well.

So this time there is alot more action than the first. Well, the first chapter was just a giant prologue anyway. This chapter also had a lot of explanations, of which I'm sure that by the very fact of life, that I have missed important details regarding the explanations. However, note that alot of the explanations were meant for Leigh, who has no experience in magecraft at all.

Also, in case it starts making people confused, there will be a prologue and epilogue for every chapter, the first showing the backstory, the second elucidating to further events. And if that can be taken as the truth, let me say this. Leigh is the main character, not Duwain. I know it might of came of that way to several people (as per my friends saying), but Leigh is the main character, hence he is the only person who will ever get the use of first-person.

And on that note, I'll say this. I'm used to writing in the third person, and will use it freely throughout the story as I can. My first-person, I feel, is still in need of practice, so it probably won't be as good as I want it to be, but that is life.

Also, Thankyou to Impaled with Extreme Prejudice for donating a Servant Idea. I had no idea about Grani's existance, and as such had never even considered him as a Rider. And don't worry about him seeming like an overly powerful character, in this war, if a Servant is not overly powerful, then either it has the most crazy luck you have ever seen (A+ or higher) or there is plot relating to why it is still alive. Regardless, I really like the idea of using Siegfried as a Servant, and as such I intend to use him, though I might make a couple of modifications, like boosting his luck a little bit (so that he won't die like a Lancer), giving him is immortality in his noble Phantasm section, and altering Balmung slightly (or more accurately making note of it's ability to actually perform a light based attack of a similar kind to caliburn). But yeah, I really like Siegfried, and as such I actually intend to use him as the proper Rider, instead of just having him in the preliminaries of the rider class. I intend to have a flashback moment showing each preliminary, one for each chapter

Of course, the Servants in my mind aren't set in stone except for a few. (Trickster, Temptress, Assasin and Duwains Servant). Well there is another, but there will be no mention of them for a long time except for maybe just noting their existence. As such, please put forth another Servant idea if you want to. It doesn't have to be as amazing as the one I've already received, but I'm someone who likes feedback and interaction.

Anyway, this chapter should be more appealing to others than the first, but still, please review, and inform me in case I've screwed up something.

P.S. I've given very little towards them at the moment, but try to guess the identity of Temptress and Assasin (And yes Assasin used the gun). You should get a bit more info on them next chapter so try to work it out by chapter 4 if you can.


End file.
